Saving Cybertron
by 2211Nighthawk
Summary: Not many knew where he came from. Even less knew that he worked on the energon miners. All they knew was that he had a horrible bedside manner, a wicked throwing arm, and was the best medic on Cybertron. It takes skill, determination and a good mentor to get to the top and Ratchet did it, finally earning the title of Autobot CMO. Rated T cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1 Chrome

**So this actually started out as a Remembrance Day oneshot, but I kinda exploded on me. I realised that nobody has done a FF about our favorite CMO Ratchet. So, like I said, I'm gonna try this. **

**for _A Broken World_ fans, I have not given up on it, I just need another story that I can jump between and I really really needed to get this out of my head. **

**Like most of my stories, it starts right off the hop, so hang on.**

**Nanoklick-second**

**Klick-minute**

**Joor-hour**

**Orn-day**

**Cycle-week**

**Decacycle-3 weeks**

**Groon-month**

**Metacycle-year**

* * *

He had finally done it. He finally had the medical insignia branded onto the thin armor on his shoulder guard. After so much hard work, he had finally graduated from the Iacon Medical Academy.

Having left the building with the others of his class, he couldn't help but stare up at the building in wonder. It had been his home for the last couple metacycles as he studied to become a medic.

"Ratchet! Ya coming!" A pale green mech, also a fresh graduate, yelled from the street. Ratchet turned slowly, his shoulder still smarting slightly from the brand and he couldn't help but run his digits over the grooves. He had finally done it!

"I'm coming Focus!" He called back, running over to join his best friend.

"I can't believe we finally did it!" Focus said with a laugh, transforming down into his sleek SUV like alt mode. Ratchet was quick to follow him, his alt mode almost identical except he was a bright yellow color instead of the mint green of his friend. They dove into the insane rush hour traffic of Iacon's streets and somehow navigated the mayhem to the outer rings of the massive city-state. Along the way they had been joined by another two apprentice medics, Quicklight and his femme sister Nova. The four made their way to a familiar bar on the outskirts of Iacon. It was a small, dingy looking place but served the best high-grade around to celebrate with. As soon as they walked into the small bar, the barkeep, an old golden mech, designation Firestar, looked up at them with a huge grin.

"Did you make it?" He asked, sliding a glowing cube down the counter to a rough looking mech at the end of the counter.

"You bet we did!" Focus laughed, throwing an arm around his yellow friend. "Ratchet graduated top of class!" Ratchet smirked before pushing his lighter friend away from him.  
"You were close as well!" He insisted before looking at the rest of his friends. "Quicklight and Nova did really good too." He continued as he followed Focus to the counter.

"Really good?" Nova demanded with a smirk. "Ha! We looked like slackers compared to genius over there." She elbowed Ratchet hard as he took a seat at the counter.

"No kidding. We all worked our afts off but Ratchet just glided right past them. Everyone said he was going to be the best medic Iacon will ever see." Quicklight continued, sitting beside his sister. Ratchet dropped his gaze, not used to all the praise.

"Ah, lay off on him already." Firestar said, setting four-high grade cubes down in front of the apprentice medics. He stood taller, holding a cube of high-grade in the air.

"Hey! A round on the house!" He yelled, gaining a cheer form the occupants of the bar. Focus jumped to his peds, his own cube raised.

"A toast to Ratchet! The best medic Cybertron will ever see!" He yelled as the bar roared in a huge cheer for one of their own. Ratchet couldn't stop the grin that crossed his faceplates as he raised his own cube to honor the toast.

The next orn found Focus sleeping off a hangover and Ratchet up bright and early. He left a quick note for his roommate and left the small apartment that they had rented while at the Academy. He took the lift down to the street level and transformed. The roads were just starting to get busy with mechs heading away from Iacon to the energon mines while some headed into the city. It didn't take long before he was on the very edge of Iacon, even farther from the center of Iacon then the small bar they had celebrated in the orn before. Finally, after taking two wrong turns he found it. He transformed, walking toward the small hospital. For something this far away from Iacon, it was in remarkably good shape. Hesitantly, he approached the building. Taking a deep vent, he approached the door and it slid open. Instantly the overpowering smell of cleaner hit him. He vented deeply, loving the smell as he walked into the small hospital. He was standing in what looked almost like a waiting room while a dark doorway on his left led to a back room. The main part of the hospital was on his right.

"Who is it?! Rock, you had better not be back already!" A furious voice bellowed and Ratchet jumped.

"No sir…I'm…ah…I'm looking for…for the medic Chrome." Ratchet called.

"Who's asking?" The same voice demanded.

"My designations Ratchet. I just graduated from the Medical Academy." Ratchet replied. There was a crash and a sharp curse, followed by another crash. A tall, broad mech stomped out of a back room and Ratchet instantly knew it was Chrome. It was impossible to mistake him. Ratchet had heard that the medic had once been bright silver. But he had been caught in an acid rain storm and the acid had burned his armor, leaving his once silver frame now scared with rust colored acid stains. The mech stalked over to Ratchet, his piercing green gaze seeming to pin Ratchet to the floor. The young mech hardily came up to Chrome's chassis.

"An apprentice huh?" Chrome asked, still glaring at Ratchet.

"Yessir."

"And I'm guessing that you are here because you want to become my apprentice." Chrome demanded.

"If you are willing to. Sir." Ratchet said, staring up at Chrome. The once silver mech crossed his arms over his chassis, still glaring at Ratchet.  
"Why should I mentor you? You are not the first apprentice to come here and I've turned them all away. Why should you be any different?"

At that Ratchet hesitated, unsure why he was would be better than the others. Chrome snorted, rolling his optics at the apprentice before him.

"That's what I thought." He growled, turning his back on Ratchet and going back onto the backroom he had come from. Ratchet released the vent he hadn't realised he had been holding. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a dark grey mech burst thought he door, nearly taking the door off its track and almost running over Ratchet.

"Chrome! Fraggit! There's another mining accident! Rockjaw and Dusty's crew are trapped!" The mech bellowed. Another crash and a string of curses rang out form the backroom and Chrome ran out. He paused when he saw Ratchet still in the room.

"You said you were an apprentice?" Chrome asked.

"Yessir."

"Were you any good?"

"I was the top of my class." Ratchet said, keeping his voice neutral.

"Do you have tools?"

"Yessir."

"Then let's go. I might need help." Chrome said before he ran out the door after the dark grey mech. Ratchet had to sprint to keep up as Chrome and the mech both transformed, the grey mech into a heavy dump truck, Chrome into a pickup. Ratchet transformed as the two mechs raced off.

To Ratchet's surprise Chrome pinged him with a comm. link upload. Ratchet right a ways accepted, listening into the conversation.

"**Which mine blew?"** Chrome asked over the comm link.

"**B-16. Unicron's Mine. That aft Smokepipe hit an energon vein with a drill and it blew up in his faceplates. We know for a fact that he's offline as well as at least seven others. The explosion collapsed part of the mine though and we have to stabilise it before we can get in. Some of the miners are in bad shape." **The unknown grey mech said.

"**Primus. Do you know how many were in the mine when it collapsed?"**

"**At least forty, if not more than that. At least a dozen were already out when I left to get you."**

"**You hear that kid? It won't be pretty. You listen to me and you stay out of everyone's way. Compute?" **Chrome barked, making Ratchet jump again.

"**Jumpy little thing isn't he?"** The grey mech snorted.

"**Yessir."** Ratchet responded, speeding up as the adults raced on.

Ratchet was hard pressed to keep up with the two as they took a road, more like a set of tracks, across the steel landscape. The terrain got rougher as the mountains protecting the north side of Iacon rose up in jagged sheets to meet them. In the distance, smoke rose from a hole in the side of a mountain. As they got closer, Ratchet could hear at least a dozen different voices yelling in what looked like organised chaos. Ratchet realised in horror that this was not an uncommon event. The two mechs and the apprentice transformed as they hit the front of the mine. Already two rough grey mechs were helping a third out for the mine. Ratchet could only stare at what was left of the mech's leg.

"Kid! Get over here!" Chrome bellowed and Ratchet bolted after him as Chrome kneeled down beside a huge tan colored mech. Energon streamed from the stump that was the mech's left arm.

"You ever done something like this?" Chrome asked, already sealing one of the cut energon lines in the mech's arm.

"Yes, but not this crazy." Ratchet confessed, his optics wide as he watched.

"Then pay attention. Only do what needs to be done to stop the mech from leaking out. These mechs are tough so don't put them into stasis unless you can't get near them. Don't worry about cosmetic slag. Once they are stable move on." Chrome barked as he finished with this mech. He was right a ways onto another, this one with a crushed leg from the knee joint down.

"His leg can't be saved, shut down the pain relays, take the leg off and stop the energon. I can build him a new leg after everyone's stable." Chrome said. And in less than three klicks he had done that.

"That's the basics to mining surgery. Now get going, most serious first!" Chrome ordered as he moved onto yet another injured mech. Ratchet was suddenly standing alone in the middle of the mayhem. Taking a deep exvent he scanned the mechs already out and went for the worst wounded. A dark silver grey mech was gasping in pain as energon ran from his side, a jagged piece of steel imbedded in his side. Ratchet got to work, disconnecting the last pain relays before carefully removing the metal and sealing the energon lines in the mech's side. As he was about to move onto the next, the mech caught his wrist, yanking him hard to the ground beside him, The mech twisted over him, his bulk shielding the young apprentice as there was another ground shaking explosion from deep inside the mine.

"Fraggit!" Ratchet heard some curse. The mech moved and Ratchet scrambled to his peds in shock to see more smoke pouring out of the mine.

"Chrome! Over here!" A voice yelled and Ratchet saw the scarred mech bolt toward the entrance.

"Thanks." He said to the mech beside him before he sprinted onto the next. And the next. Ratchet had never worked so hard in his life. He was coated in energon up to his elbows and the stuff was splattered across his chassis.

"Kid!" Chrome's voice rang out over the noise and Ratchet twisted around to see the scarred mech run over. Ratchet was in the middle of taking a mech's lower arm off and Chrome quickly finished the job.

"The rest can wait, we need you at the mine." Chrome said and Ratchet realised that he was covered in dust. "Come with me."

The medic and the apprentice ran to the entrance of the mine. Everyone that could be reached was already outside, away from the mine. The only ones left were the ones that were still trapped. Chrome wasted no time running into the mine and Ratchet followed him, though more leery about the horrible groans coming from the ceiling. Ratchet glanced at up at it nervously but followed Chrome deeper into the mine. Temporary lights flickered as they climbed over fallen beams and jagged cracks in the floor. Eventually they made it to the cave in. Four mechs raging in different shades of grey stood there, watching as Chrome and Ratchet walked up.

"Whenever he's ready." One of the mechs, Ratchet recognised as the one that got them, said. Chrome turned to the apprentices, dropping down to one knee to be on optic level.

"Kid, I know that this is a little more them most apprentices are used to. But right now, you are the only one that can get past that cave it to the miners on the other side. Most of them, thank Primus, are ok except for a few scrapes and tears. But Dusty's in bad shape, we don't know how bad and he needs a medic. I understand if you are too scared to go and we won't hold it against you." Chrome said in the first calm voice Ratchet had ever heard. He glanced past Chrome's green optics to look at the miners. They all looked worried, scared for their friend. Ratchet's optics drifted back to Chrome's.

"How far down do I need to go?" He asked.

* * *

**So this is obviously set before the War and before Megatron becomes a power hungry gladiator. And yes he and Optimus are brothers but that's a whole different plot line.**

**So what do you think so far? I'm curious to see where this goes myself.**

**I will already warn you know, I am not thrilled with the title and I might change it if I can think of one better.**

**Bear with me, I am writing in 3rd person and that is completely out of my comfort zone for something this long. **

**Let me know what you think and please review!**

**2211Nighthawk**


	2. Chapter 2 Dust

**So here is chapter 2**

**I forgot to mention this last posting because I posted at 1130 at night, I just wanted to get it out. **

**Like I said, the inspiration was for a Remembrance Day oneshot. **

**But ever sense I have read _Turning Points _by Alathea2, I have wanted to try and do a progression story like that. (Utterly amazing story by the way, highly recommend it.)**

**So, here I go!**

* * *

"Are the comms up?" Chrome asked. The same mech nodded.

"It's sketchy, but they're up."

Ratchet nodded and walked over to the miners. A small hole was visible at the bottom where a beam had collapsed, wedging sideways against another slab of steel and the wall. Ratchet dropped to his knees before wiggling through the tiny hole. He winced when he felt the sharp steel grate along his shoulders as he squeezed through. He managed, leaving bright yellow paint on the beam and the surrounding steel.

"**I'm though." **Ratchet said over the comm.

"**Good. Keep in touch. We don't know how far you can get before the comm kicks out." **Chrome ordered. Ratchet kept the comm open as he walked down the shaft, the headlights on his alt mode cutting though the dusty air. He coughed as the stuff started to clog his vents. The ceiling moaned again and he froze.

"**What!"** Chrome demanded.

"**How do I know the ceiling won't collapse on me?"** Ratchet asked, watching the ceiling closely. He heard a chuckle in the background.

"**You don't. But listen for a quiet hiss. That's what you need to worry about."** An unknown mech said.

"**Hissing. Gottcha."** Ratchet whispered as he carefully stepped around the rubble. He had to climb over another beam and squeeze through another collapse before he heard the sound of ragged venting. He picked up his pace and as he came around a corner, froze in horror. There were five mechs standing in the narrow shaft. Three others were sitting against the wall, while another three were hunched over in the middle of the shaft. But it was the twelfth mech on the ground that had shocked Ratchet.  
"Ya the medic they said was coming?" One of the mechs by the injured one asked in a heavy accent. Ratchet nodded as he walked over.

"Ya gotta help Dusty. He's hurt bad." The silver grey mech continued, getting to his peds and taking a step back. The other two glanced up but also got up and took a step back. Ratchet collapsed to his knees beside the injured mech. Unlike the other grey miners, Dusty was faded red color. But that was almost impossible to tell from the energon that coated his frame. The mech was unconscious, which was a mercy to him. His entire right side was gone. Completely gone. His right leg was barely attacked by a few wires. His hip was completely slagged as was his chassis and shoulder. His arm was missing and the right side of his helm was destroyed. Most of the energon lines had been crudely sealed but he was still losing a lot.

"**Chrome! Chrome can you hear me?"** Ratchet practically begged over the comm.

"**Kid! I…hear…But…break…up. Compute?" **Chrome said.

"**Primus Chrome, I don't think I can do this! He's completely slagged and I-I-I don't know-"** Ratchet was frantic.

"**Kid! Kid! Calm…! You…do…it! I-"**

Ratchet froze, his optics wide in horror.

"**Chrome?"**

"…"

"**Chrome!"**

But it was no use. The comms were down again and he was alone.

"Ya can do it kid. Ah know ya can." The mech said, resting a heavy servo on Ratchet's shoulder guard, just over the medical insignia. He could do this. He ex-vented sharply, then dove in.

"What happened to him?" Ratchet asked as he started sealing energon lines as fast as he possible could.

"When Smokepipe hit tha' energon vein, the whole place ble' up. Dusty told tha' glitch tah be careful bu' he didn' listen. Glitch got Rock an' his entire group offlined. We're Dusty's team. We was on tah other side of tah shaft and we was still hit." The mech said.

"We managed tah patch Bulkhead, Ironlock and Scrapper up our selves bu' Dusty…he's a fraggen' mess." The mech continued sadly, glancing over at the other three miners against the wall before turning his gaze back to the young apprentice. Ratchet was still going as fast as he could to stabilise the mech before him but he was still losing too much energon.

"I have to do an energon transfusion. He's still losing too much." Ratchet said, glancing up at the mech beside him. "I don't have what I need though, not for a transfusion."

"Then do a transfer." The mech said, pulling the armor from his arm and exposing his protoform.

"What?!" Ratchet demanded, staring at the mech in shock.

"Ah said do ah transfer. Y'ever done tha' before?" The mech asked.

"No! I mean, not from another mech!" Ratchet sputtered.

"There's ah first tam form everythang." The mech said, sticking his arm in front of Ratchet's faceplate. His gaze dropped to the mech he was trying to stabilise. He needed energon and he needed it now!

"This will sting." Ratchet warned before neatly slicing into the mech's wrist. A small bead of energon dripped from the cut but it wasn't serious. As gently as he could he pried the edges of the cut apart, exposing the wires and lines in the mech's arm. He knew what he was looking for and he finally found the large energon line he wanted. It wasn't the biggest and it wouldn't drain the mech but it would pump energon into Dusty. Carefully he moved the other wires aside as he eased the one he wanted to the surface. He took a deep vent, suddenly hesitating.

"Ya're going fine mechling." The mech said, catching Ratchet's optics. The apprentice nodded, then cut the line. Energon gushed out before he was able to pinch it off. Taking a small piece of thin tubing from subspace, he managed to wiggle the end over the line in the mech's arm. Removing his servo he allowed the energon to run down the tubing and pour out the end before he pinched it off again.

"Hold that and don't let it go." He ordered the mech, who took the line from him, keeping the end pinched off. Turning back to Dusty, he sliced off the end of a sealed energon line in his side. To his horror only a few drops dripped out, just showing how low on energon the mech was. Taking the energon filled line from the mech, he slid the end of the tube over the energon line in Dusty. With a deep ex-vent he released the line. The crude seal started to drip but there wasn't anything Ratchet could do for something as crude as this. He knew that any one of the medics from the Academy would glitch at the sight of this. Ratchet ran a scan over Dusty, actually surprised to see his energon levels slowly start to climb.

"It's actually working." Ratchet muttered to himself. He heard a chuckle beside him and glanced over to see the mech chuckling at him.

"Good job kid." He said with a smile. Ratchet couldn't help but return the grin. But then there was a horrible groan. All the miners tensed as Ratchet looked around in alarm.  
"What was that?" He demanded. The ceiling groaned again and tiny shards of metal rained down on his helm. Instantly he leaned over Dusty's body to protect him as a slightly larger shard bounced off his shoulder guard. There was a deep roar and a boom deep down the shaft and the miners shifted nervously.

"What was that!" Ratchet hissed.

"The mine collapsing." One of the mechs standing off against the wall said nervously. There was a crash from the direction of the mine entrance followed by a string of curses from the miners around Ratchet. The ceiling groaned again and Ratchet threw himself over Dusty as parts of the ceiling collapsed around him. A particularly large piece slammed into his back and he bit back a howl of pain. There was a crash directly overhelm and Ratchet glanced up in shock to see one of the miners leaning over him, protecting him from the falling metal. After a few klicks, the deep rumbling stopped and the miner straightened.

"Thanks." Ratchet said quietly, glancing up at the grey nearly black mech. The mech nodded but stayed on his knees beside Ratchet. And then he heard it. A quiet hissing noise coming from a large crack in the ceiling.

"Ah… hissing is bad isn't it?" Ratchet asked nervously.

"That's really bad." The miner that had protected him said in a deep voice.

"That's seleion." One of the miners against the wall spoke up.

"Which is…?" Ratchet asked, trailing off.

"Really, really explosive." The dark grey mech said, suddenly snapping his gaze toward the mine entrance. Lights were cutting through the dust and half a dozen miners came around the corner, Chrome in the lead. He rushed over to Ratchet even as the dark grey miner got to his peds and took a step back.

"Wow, he really is slagged up." Chrome said, taking one look at Dusty. He turned back to Ratchet, subspacing the supplies needed for an energon drip. He started hooking it up to Dusty.

"Kid I want you to get out of here. Help the wounded out and stay back. This place is gonna collapse if you vent to hard." Chrome ordered, sealing off the energon line in Dusty's side that Ratchet had used for the transfer. Ratchet instantly removed it from the mech, quickly sealing the energon line in his wrist. The silver grey mech got to his peds, placing his good servo on Ratchet's shoulder guard.

"Let's get outta here. Chrome knows what he's going." The mech said.

"But-"

"Kid, I said get outta here! I'll be right behind you." Chrome snapped. The ceiling groaned again and more steel shards rained down on them. "Git!"

Against his better judgment, Ratchet followed the mech out of the shaft, still coughing on the dust. Once clear of the mine entrance, he repaired the cut in the mech's arm and turned back to the entrance. Just in time to hear another ground shaking boom. Dust poured out of the entrance and Ratchet could only watch in shock. But then an acid scarred pickup raced out, a dusty red frame propped up in the box as there was another boom and the entrance disappeared in a mountain of collapsed steel. Chrome pulled forward.

"Get everyone back to my med bay!" He bellowed before driving down the track back to the hospital. Ratchet transformed as did the mech beside him.

"**Kid, stay at the back. If you see anything go wrong shout out. Compute?"** Chrome demanded over the comm.

"**Yessir."** Ratchet responded, waiting till the convoy of mechs had driven past, most with a fellow miner unable to transform on their backs. Ratchet took the rear as ordered and watched as everyone slowly made their way back down the mountain to the hospital. It was a long, slow drive but nothing happened to the mechs as they finally rolled to a stop outside of Chrome's medbay. A huge shop door at the back opened and Chrome drove in, two passenger-less mechs behind him. The two transformed and gently lifted Dusty to a berth. As soon as Chrome was free of his patient, he transformed and started directing miners where to set their friends. Ratchet stayed where he was at the back as the miners unloaded and backed off, most returning to clean up the mine. Once the last miner was settled, Chrome turned back to Ratchet.  
"Are you sticking around?" He asked.

"I always finish a job." Ratchet replied, driving in as the shop doors closed.

"Now we do everyone again. Double check everything and make things permanent. What we were doing up at the mine was just to keep them alive until we could get them here and do the permanent work." Chrome explained, walking over to Dusty.

"Same as before, start with the most serious. I'll work on Dusty." Chrome said before he turned his attention back on the dusty red mech in front of him. Ratchet nodded before going back to work. Most of the mechs there were the amputees and the most serious ones. Among them was the dark silver grey mech, Graphite, that had pulled Ratchet down at the explosion. Some of the welds were starting to crack from not having enough time to set and he quickly re-welded them. The first two, the tan mech, with the missing arm, Sandstorm, and the slate grey mech with the crushed lower leg, Battleship, were also there. They had a bit of leakage but already their self-repair systems were rerouting the energon. In total there were twenty three miners that had been driven back down to the hospital. Sixteen had gotten away with minor injuries. The dark grey mech that had protected him in the shaft, Carbon, and the silver grey mech with the accent, Sterling, were both back at the mine cleaning up. But there were still fifteen that had been offlined in the initial explosion or the collapses that had followed including Rockjaw's entire 12 mech team. 54 miners had worked at Unicron's Mine.

* * *

**So, what do you think so far?**

**I love reviews!**

**2211Nigthawk**


	3. Chapter 3 Warning

**So this was a pain to write. I have two speeds. Eight chapters a day, or one in a month. This was one in a month. Though it actually only took me a weep to write this. **

**Thanks to Neon, Stormin'Hudson, KeepingThemAtBay, UltraMagnusFanGirl, SusantheRedHead for reviews.**

**Stormin'Hudson: First of all, NO PRESSURE! Trust me, I will try my best but I don't expect to get anywhere near _Turning Points_ popularity. That is just way to good for me. I will try to slow down, it just needed a really fast past beginning just to freak Ratchet out a little. He did just graduate and he defiantly didn't expect that. Mining (on any planet) is very dangerous so it shows him just what he is getting himself into. **

**KeepingThemAt Bay: Yes he did just graduate, but what he's getting into is a 'live hard or die' kinda job. Plus he would have been so overwhelmed he was running on instinct. It explains it a little better here. But there will be a part where he does start to second guess himself. **

**Neon: Welcome back ;) As for Megs' being a miner... no idea. But I'm going with the gladiator/ Optimus older brother/Sentinel's heirs angle. **

**With that note to Neon! I will kinda have two timelines (between Ratchet's life and what is going around outside of Iacon that he doesn't know about) going here but this is the one that I will be following.**

**At this point in Cybertron history, it is still in it's Golden Days. Because I have no idea how Cybertron age works, Ratchet is about 18 in human terms, while Megatron and Optimus area about 9 and 8.**

**Anything else...**

**Oh yeah-!**

**2211Nigthawk does not own Transformers**

* * *

He didn't know how long he worked, he just knew that he was low on energon and that he had finished checking the patients.

"You still online?" Chrome asked and Ratchet jumped. He had collapsed in a chair against the wall and he had only shuttered his optics for a moment.

"Huh…?! Oh…yeah…yeah I'm online." Ratchet said stiffly, glancing over at Chrome. The medic had cleaned the energon from his scarred frame and was watching Ratchet.

"There's a wash rack in the back room." Chrome said, jerking his helm toward the dark doorway. "Feel free to use it and clean up. You look like you should be on the casualty list."

Ratchet ex-vented softly, then hauled himself to his peds. They felt like lead as he dragged himself to the back room.

"Kid, wait." Chrome ordered and Ratchet froze. He heard Chrome walk over, then the familiar tingle of a medical scan.  
"You took a decent hit on your back, your armor is bent in." Chrome said, running skilled digits over the decent sized dent in Ratchet's lower back. He winced as the minute pressure sent jagged bolts of pain up his back.

"I'll manage. I can get my roommate to fix me up." Ratchet said then gasped when Chrome pressed it a little harder than necessary.

"Excuse me? But I thought you wanted to be my apprentice." Chrome snapped, taking a step back. Ratchet spun to face him.

"Really? I mean, you want to take me on?" Ratchet asked. Chrome nodded.

"I wasn't joking when I said that I've had other fresh apprentices come here. But as soon as they see the mining accidents, they change their minds and head back into Iacon." Chrome said, almost glaring at Ratchet. "There is no time to second guess yourself here. You either know what you're doing or you don't. Most don't. There were two other times where a wannabe apprentice was here when I got the call that there had been a collapse. The first panicked, and didn't even make it up the slope before he turned back. The second was so skittish and unsure of himself that it would have been faster if I had just taken care of everyone instead of having to hover over the apprentice and tell him what he was doing wrong. And both those accidents were nothing compared to what happened today at the mine."

Chrome took a step forward, towering over Ratchet intimidatingly.

"If you agree to be my apprentice, you do what I say, when I say it. I expect you to know what you're doing because I don't hover. I don't need to learn anything from you. I will comm you when I need you, even if that's in the middle of the night or if you're busy. I have no social life outside of the miners and if I need you, I need you. A lot of these miners don't have anything but their strength and power. If something happens to them because you didn't do what I say, if they beat the slag out of you it aint my problem. Compute?" Chrome ordered, glaring down at the apprentice before him.

"Yessir! I gladly accept! Is there anything else you need?" Ratchet asked instantly. Chrome smirked.  
"Go get cleaned up, then I'll see to your back before you head home."

Ratchet nodded before he headed for the wash rack.

The instant he walked past the door way he realised what all the banging and crashing was. It looked like a shop of some kind. Hesitantly he walked in, nearly killing himself when he tripped over something just past the doorway.

"Watch the scrap on the floor!" Chrome yelled from the cleaner, hospital side of the building. "Wash rack's around the corner on your right."

Stepping around another pile on the ground he finally made it to the small room.

"Found it!" He called back as he turned the taps on. Hot water poured out and he jumped back with a hiss of surprise.

"Taps are touchy." Chrome called again and Ratchet smirked.

"Thanks for the warning." He muttered to himself as he stepped in.

He had never had a better shower as he scrubbed the dried energon from his armor. Quickly toweling off, he hung the towel back up and stepped out into the shop. Walking back into the hospital ward he saw Chrome collapsed in a chair, his helm tipped forward to his chassis, his optics shuttered. He was in recharge. Ratchet hesitated, not wanting to wake him.

"I'm up, I'm up." Chrome growled, making Ratchet jump again. "You really need to calm down." He remarked as he stood up and stretched.

"Sorry." Ratchet muttered, walked over. Chrome gestured him to an empty examining table and Ratchet jumped on, laying down on his chassis with his helm resting on his arms. He hadn't even realized that Chrome had started on the dent. And he defiantly didn't realise it when Chrome took a step back.

"You're done. You can get up now." He said with a smirk as Ratchet's servo instantly went to the dent on his back. It was gone, with no traces that it was ever there. When he got up off the table, he gladly accepted the cube of mid-grade energon Chrome offered him.

"I want to make one more thing clear before I officially take you on." Chrome said as Ratchet gulped down the cube. "I don't get paid out here. At least, very little. The miners are poor and as such, they can't pay a lot and I refuse to take their entire paycheck to pay for something they can't control. Usually once a cycle, I go to a smaller secondary medbay I have in the middle of Iacon and treat the royals. That earns me enough credits to keep this shop running." Chrome explained as Ratchet finished the cube.

"I don't care about the pay." Ratchet said quietly. "I just want to help mechs."

"Good. Cause we're a family kid. You back out on the miners and they will hunt you down. But if you stick with them, you've got friends till the end." Chrome said with a smirk. "Go home and get some rest. You need it."

Idly, Ratchet checked his internal chronometer. It was well into the evening! Focus would be worried sick!

"Do you need anything else?" Ratchet asked, glancing up at Chrome.

"Nope. I said go home." Chrome said before he turned and walked away, stopping at Dusty's berth.

"Oh, and Ratchet?" Chrome called, his back to Ratchet still. Ratchet turned to face him.

"Yessir?" He asked.

"Welcome to the team." Chrome said, glancing over his shoulder guard at the young apprentice. Ratchet smirked before he walked out of the hospital. Once outside he transformed and drove off back to the apartment.

"Where the fragging Pit have you been?!" Focus yelled as soon as Ratchet opened the door.

"Working." Ratchet said simply as he went and collapsed in one of the worn couches. He was so tired!

"What the Pit happened to your paint?!" Focus demanded.

"Oh hush already. You'll get the neighbours angry again. I said I was working. I got a mentor." Ratchet said, his voice slightly muffled from it being pressed into the arm of the couch.

"What?!" Focus squawked, staring at Ratchet like he had three helms. With an annoyed growl from his engines, Ratchet sat up, turning to face his furious roommate.

"Chrome agreed to mentor me after I helped out at a mine collapse. Hence the paint." Ratchet said before he spun around and flopped back on the couch. Focus was silent. And that worried Ratchet. He sat up again to see his roommate staring at him.

"What?" Ratchet asked.

"You got Chrome to mentor you?!" Focus bellowed in a shockingly loud voice for his slight frame. "Are you out of your fragging processor?! He's dangerous Ratchet! Everyone knows that! He'll eat you alive!"

"Focus would you mute it already? Everything's fine. And I got out before the mine collapsed entirely." Ratchet added with a devious smirk.

"Mine collapse?! Ratchet what the Pit were you doing by the mines?! Those mech's are gutter sludge! You can do better than them!" Focus was back to yelling and Ratchet had had enough. He stood up, revealing he was still a full helm taller than Focus.

"Focus, mute it! This is exactly why I became a medic, to help mechs. Especially the ones that can't afford to go to a half decent medic! Chrome is one of the most skilled medics in Iacon and I am honored that he would actually allow me to apprentice to him. So mute it and deal with it!" Ratchet snarled. Focus took a step back. Ratchet had just as bad as a temper as his mech creator but it took a lot to rile him. Usually.

"Ok. Ok. I'll mute it. I still think you could do better though." Focus said, dropping his white optics from Ratchet's amber ones. Ratchet ex-vented.

"Focus, I want to do this, help the miners. I don't care if you don't support me, my creators didn't, but then just keep your opinions to yourself ok?" Ratchet asked quietly.

"Fine. I'll do that much. Besides, we're still friends right?" Focus asked with a grin.  
"Course we are. Now let me get some recharge, I'm dead on my peds." Ratchet said before he turned and headed to his berthroom. He shut the door, collapsing faceplate first onto the berth. Somebody suddenly pounded on the apartment room door.

"Would you two mute it already?!" A furious voice yelled and Ratchet groaned once before dropping off into recharge.

"… … **-et. Ratchet!"**

The mech in questing sat bolt upright.  
**"Huh…who…what?"** Ratchet sputtered into the comm. link, half his systems still offline.

"**Who the Pit do you think it is?" **Chrome snapped.

"…**Chrome. Chrome? Chrome! Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm up!" **Ratchet gasped, scrambling to his peds, tripping over the blanket piled on the floor and nearly falling again. He kicked the blanket free and stumbled out into the main living area.

"**Good. Be at the hospital in joor."**Chrome ordered before he cut the comm.

"Primus Ratchet! What is your problem?!" Focus demanded, also stumbling out of his berthroom.

"Chrome commed me. He wants me back at his medbay in a joor." Ratchet said, already halfway out the door.

"What. Another collapse?" Focus asked, leaning against the doorframe to his berthroom, watching Ratchet. He shrugged.

"Dunno. I hope not, that was hectic last orn."

"Wait, you seriously expect there to be another mining accident?" Focus asked, his smirk gone.  
"Well, yeah." Ratchet said with a shrug.

"I was fragging kidding Ratchet!" Focus protested, staring at his roommate in shock.  
"And I wasn't." Ratchet replied calmly, though his spark clenched in fear that there had been another accident.

"Wow. You really are serious about this slag with the miners aren't you?" Focus asked. In answer he got a warning growl from Ratchet's engines.

"Alright. Alright! I'll drop it." Focus quickly said, raising his servos in surrender.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, Chrome is waiting for me." Ratchet growled before he turned and left the apartment, leaving his friend staring after him.

It took Ratchet just under a joor to get to Chrome's medbay. He transformed at the door, walking in.

"Chrome?" Ratchet called softly.

"In here!" Chrome yelled from the back room. Ratchet walked in to see the lights were on. He had been right when he said that it looked like a shop. Of some kind.

"What is this place?" Ratchet asked, then jumped when Chrome suddenly stepped out from behind a pile of scrap metal.

"You really do need to calm down." Chrome said with a glare.

"Sorry." Ratchet muttered, still looking around. "So what is this?"

"You remember Battleship, the mech that I had to take his leg off?" Chrome asked. Ratchet nodded. "And how I said I'd make him a new leg?" Again, Ratchet nodded. "Well, now I am."

"Really? I thought you had to go into Iacon to get parts like that." Ratchet asked. With a snarl Chrome whipped around, a big wrench in servo. He flung it at Ratchet who just barely managed to duck out of the way as it crashed into the wall. Before he knew it, Chrome had grabbed him by the scruff bar, slamming him up against the wall hard.

"Let me make one thing clear, punk." Chrome snarled. "I wasn't kidding when I said the miners here are poor. They can't afford to go to Iacon to get parts. They can't afford to go to a real medic! They-!"

"Chrome." A harsh, grating voice called. Chrome froze, before dropping Ratchet back to the floor and stomping past him. Ratchet gasped as his vents heaved from suddenly being cut off. He rubbed at his throat, massaging the soft metal.

"Kid!" Chrome's furious voice rang through the medbay and Ratchet ran out of the shop. Chrome had his servos on the edge of a berth, leaning heavily on his servos, his helm down.

"Sir?" Ratchet asked cautiously, Focus' warning about Chrome at the front of his processor.

"Come here." He said quietly, his helm still down. Hesitantly Ratchet stepped forward. Chrome's gaze snapped up to meet him and Ratchet flinched. Instantly, Chrome dropped his gaze to the floor, his armor flattening against his frame.

"Ratchet?" The rough voice said again and Chrome took a few steps back even as Ratchet approached the berth. It was Dusty.

"Dusty! You're online." Ratchet said with a grin, walking up on the mech's good side.

"It would appear that way." He said with a forced grin. "Chrome told me you were the one to patch me up." He said. Ratchet glanced over at the scarred mech before turning his attention back to the faded red mech before him.

"Yeah, but I can't take all the credit, Sterling and Chrome did a lot." Ratchet said with a shrug. With a snort that sounded painful, Dusty rolled his single optic.

"You know as well as I do that if it hadn't been for you I wouldn't be here." He said, shifting himself slightly. He winced but waved Chrome back when he stepped forward.

"I'm sick of drugs." He snapped, crossing his single arm over what was left of his chassis.

"I'm almost done your leg, now quit gripping about it." Chrome growled, crossing his arms.

"But to the point…" Dusty said, suddenly shooting Chrome a burning glare. Ratchet saw Chrome straighten in shock, then scowled before he walked away.

"Ratchet…I heard Chrome just now and I want to say…don't take it personal." Dusty said quietly. Ratchet couldn't help the snort that escaped his vents.

"Personal? He just slammed me into the wall. Why would I take it personal?" He muttered, dropping Dusty's gaze.

"Chrome's been though a lot. And I don't mean his scars. He…" Dusty trailed off, air gusting through his vents. He reached over, resting a worn servo on Ratchet's own. "It's not my right to say. You'll have to get him to talk but...don't let him scare you. The fact that he even trusted you to take care of one of us without him watching you like a cyber-hawk tells us miners something."

"What do you mean? He left me after the second mech. Ah, Battleship and Sandstorm." Ratchet said confused.

"You keep believing that mech." Dusty said with a harsh chuckle.

"What do you mean?"

"Chrome was watching you the whole time Ratchet." Dusty said with a sigh, shaking his helm with a smirk. "Chrome is bordering possessive of us. Most of the miners at Unicron's Mine. If he can help it, he won't let another medic near us. But…" Dusty said with a shrug. "You have to get him to talk. He's willing to trust you Ratchet but you can't let him get to you. To put it a different way, he's testing you."

Ratchet nodded slowly, letting a gust of air escape his vents in a sigh.

"Kay." He said quietly. "I…I won't let him get to me."

"Ratchet, you're a good kid. I can already tell you that Chrome likes you." Dusty said with a smirk. Ratchet nodded with a sigh.

"Do you need anything else?" Ratchet asked.

"No, I said I was sick of drugs." Dusty said, making a face. Ratchet nodded before he left, walking back into the shop where he heard a huge amount of noise ringing out.

"Chrome?" He asked again as he walked in. This time when the scarred mech stood up, Ratchet didn't jump. What did surprise him was that Chrome looked almost remorseful.

"Kid, I…" Chrome started to say, not looking at Ratchet.

"Dusty already said not to take it personally." Ratchet interrupted gently. "Besides, it's not the first time I've been slammed into a wall." He added with a shrug.

"The reason I got so mad…I've had a few mechs offline on me because no one could afford the parts they needed. I started making parts from scratch." Chrome said quietly, finally looking up at Ratchet.

"I'm all these mechs have."

"No, we're, all they have. I agreed to be your apprentice and I plan on sticking around. Unless you want to throw me out already." Ratchet said with a smirk. To his relief, Chrome ex-vented with a sigh.

"I keep my word. I won't throw you out." Chrome said, returning the smirk "Not yet."

* * *

**So now we know a little about what is going though Chrome's helm. The mech is bordering desperate sometimes. remember what Focus said about Chrome being dangerous...what he did to Ratchet was nothing. **

**But that gets explained later on!**

**That explains where Ratchet gets the throwing wrenches!**

**If I am going to fast, PLEASE tell me! I really need feedback for this FF because I have never written a life story like this and I'm not totally comfortable writing 3'rd person.**

**Love reviews! I look forward to them and they make me feel all bubbly!**

**See you all in a week! (Unless you read _A Broken World_ where you know it is more like every six days because I cant :) count to 7)**

**2211Nighthawk**


	4. Chapter 4 Practise

**I'm in a good mood so I posted early.**

**Literally just finished this chapter. **

**I just had my birthday on the 22nd so i'm posting a chapter for both my FF.**

**anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I needed the support about my 3rd person writing. Ehh, I will already warn you, I might switch back to 1st person at some point. But I will warn you in advance.**

**and on with ch 4!**

* * *

"You needed me though?" Ratchet asked, walking over. Chrome nodded, returning to the work table he had been at.

"I've rebuilt both his entire pelvis region and shoulder socket." Chrome said, gesturing to the table. Ratchet stared at it in shock. It was nearly complete. Only a few sections of the main support struts were visible as multicolored wiring, tubing and various pistons and motor relays made up the rest of the rough frame.

"When did you do this?" Ratchet ask, his optics going over every detail. It was rough, very rough, but it would work.

"Soon as you left." Chrome said with a shrug. "It needed to be done. But I want you to help me start welding it to the rest of his frame."

"Really?" Ratchet asked, surprised.

"Yes. It is easier with two mechs and it's even easier when both mechs know what they are doing." Chrome said, his engine rumbling slightly in annoyance. He shook his helm sharply, turning back to Ratchet.

"You ever done something like this?" He asked.

"Again, not this serious. I've done limbs before but not half a mech's side." Ratchet replied.

"No time like the present." Chrome said in a way to cheery voice, scooping up the half-frame and walking away. Ratchet followed after him, wondering why on Cybertron he was suddenly in a good mood.

"Good news, I finished your side. Better news, the kid here is gonna help me put you back together." Chrome said, walking over to Dusty. To Ratchet's surprise, Dusty's faceplates split into a grin.

"Ahh. You ever put a mech back together?" Dusty asked, watching a very nervous Ratchet.

"Nothing this serious." Ratchet confessed, wondering what the Pit he had missed.

"Trust me, if you're gonna learn on one of us, I'm the best mech for the job." Dusty said, still grinning. Nervously, Ratchet glanced between the two grinning mechs. He didn't want to say anything because both mechs were freaking him out a little. Especially because Chrome had just chucked him against a wall.

"You really need to calm down before you glitch on me or something." Chrome muttered, still with a smirk. "Dusty is the only mech that will allow me to put him into stasis for repairs. Sterling will if you bribe him, Axil if you threaten him and Jigsaw of you whack him over the helm hard enough." Chrome explained.

"Hey!" Said mech yelled from his berth down the hall.

"That's the truth and you know it!" Chrome yelled back as laughter from the two other conscious mechs greeted Chrome's statement.

"Not my fault you had to take my fragging legs off!" Jigsaw protested as his fellow miners laughed.

"Ah mute it about your legs already." An annoyed voice growled, Ratchet recognised him as Scavenger.

"And I won't offline you if you screw up the first time." Dusty added with a smirk as the miners continued their argument in the background.

"And he won't offline you if you screw up." Chrome confirmed. Ratchet nodded in understanding even as the scarred mech took a needle from subspace. He injected the contents into the IV in Dusty's side.

"See ya in the morning." Chrome said simply as Dusty's optics went dark and his servo went slack.

"So what's the first thing you need to do?" Chrome asked. It took a moment for Ratchet to realise he was being spoken too.

"Huh?" He asked stupidly.

"You're taking the lead in this. Like Dusty said, he won't kill you if you screw up." Chrome said, almost all humor gone and the same kind of concentration that Ratchet saw at the mine collapse back in place. Ratchet stared at Chrome.

"You're serious?" He asked. Chrome didn't respond. "You are serious." With another sideways glance at his mentor, he took another cautious step toward Dusty, running his own medical grade scans over him.

"The first thing is to make sure the patient is stable, but you already took care of that as well as sealing off all the energon lines in his side and rerouting them back into his frame." Ratchet muttered, half to himself and he walked past Chrome to get a better look.

"Why." Chrome asked. Ratchet glanced at him surprised. Then Dusty's words came back to him. Chrome was still testing him.

"Because he needs to be moved to a flat surface like an operating table so that we can make sure that everything lines up like his joints and such." Ratchet said.

"Good. Because I've already worked on him, I know that if we just pick him up there will not be any more internal damage then there is already. Most mechs…" He trailed off.

"You have to use a stretcher in case there is more internal damage then we know of." Ratchet finished.

"Correct. Then let's move him." Chrome said, already walking up beside Ratchet to take Dusty's bad side. Ratchet obediently went to the other, sliding his arms under Dusty shoulder plating and under his knee joint. Chrome also slid his arms under Dusty, but taking the greater weight of his chassis. The two slowly made their way to the slightly more private operating table and gently set him down.

"Now what?" Chrome asked, taking a step back to allow Ratchet to resume his task.

"Before attaching the new frame, make sure that the patient is immobilized and his pain relays and his pressure grid are disconnected. And…making sure that all the exposed support struts that we will be welding the new frame to are clean and already prepped." Ratchet was literally going over a mental checklist.

"Why immobilise him." Chrome quizzed. Ratchet answered without even thinking.

"Because when attaching a new limb if the patient wasn't immobilized they might react to the procedure even though they are in stasis."

"In simple terms, so we don't get a ped in the faceplates." Chrome muttered quietly enough that Ratchet almost missed it. Chrome walked over to the counter he had set the new frame on and brought it back, setting it beside Dusty on the operating table.

"I've already gone over everything because I made it. Again, under normal circumstances what would need to be done?"

"Double check the new part in case the technicians missed something or there needs to be a modification that the tecks' didn't know about. Also in case they screwed up and something is medically wrong with the new part." Ratchet replied.

"Correct again. So what's the next step?" Chrome said, watching Ratchet.

"We need the right tools because we can't carry them all in our subspace."

"Good. Tools are in the third cabinet on the left. Go get what you think you'll need." Chrome ordered and Ratchet scurried off. He pulled the cabinet open, mentally going over the tools that he had used to reattach that leg on what's-his-faceplate back at the Academy. He grabbed what he needed before walking back over to Chrome.  
"Good. The new part is correct, you have your tools and the patient is stable and ready." Chrome said before he finally walked up beside Ratchet.

"As I said before, this is a two mech job. But you are still taking the lead, just tell me what you think I should be doing." Chrome said. But this close to Ratchet he knew the instant Ratchet's anxiety kicked in.

"Oh no no no no no. Not a chance am I taking the lead on this." Ratchet sputtered, taking a step back and staring at Chrome like he had grown another helm.  
"And why not?" Chrome asked, arms crossed over his chassis.

"Because it's not my place! The medics at the Academy would never let me take the lead in an operation I've never done before. Even if they were right there." Ratchet said. "Maybe on a drone but not-"

"What about at the mines? You did fine there. Even when you had to stabilise Dusty by yourself and you turned Sterling into a living IV drip." Chrome demanded.  
"That-that-that-that was different!" Ratchet insisted, "I was running off of instinct!"

"Instinct. So why can't you run off of instinct now?" Chrome asked.

"Because…what if I mess up? What if I do something wrong?" Ratchet muttered, looking very miserable. Chrome exvented with a sigh.  
"In case you've forgotten kid, this isn't the Academy. Those stiffs you call medics would glitch at the sight of this place." Chrome said. "I am no Academy medic. I won't let you screw up and besides. How will you learn anything new if you're too scared to do your job?"

Ratchet glanced up nervously.  
"But-?"

"No buts. Get your aft over here and let's do this. If you're so skittish, I will take the lead for now until I think you can handle it. Ok?" Chrome asked. Ratchet nodded and stepped back over, making sure that he was now on Chrome's left side so he could take the lead.

"The first thing you need to do to is re-weld the support struts. Everything is attacked to that frame and if it's not done right, you're screwed." Chrome said, as he shifted the new frame right up against Dusty's shredded side. Chrome's right servo turning into a welding torch even as he aligned one of the support struts in the new frame to the matching strut on Dusty. Ratchet's optics instantly went darker as the bright light from the welding torch lit up the medbay. After a kilck Chrome was done, his own optics brightening again.

"The welds will obviously be hot so make sure that none of the wiring or circuitry gets toasted." Chrome said as he went to work re-welding the rest of the new frame to Dusty. By that time the first weld had cooled and Chrome ground it down so that it was smooth. He did the same to the other struts before glancing at Ratchet.

"The next thing is we reattach the motor relays. I'll do the first but then you're taking over." Chrome said and Ratchet nodded nervously. It was a simple task to splice the new wiring for the pistons and motor relays into Dusty's already existing wiring system. Ratchet hesitantly took over but as soon as he started, the procedures came back to him and he finished in no time.

"Keep going." Chrome said when Ratchet hesitated. The young medic took a deep vent before he went to work on the energon lines. Making sure that Dusty was on a fast IV drip so that his systems didn't crash as the energon already in his frame was dispersed to the new half of his frame he started replacing the sealed tubing for new ones. The lines would run the energon to the pistons and relays as well as his bracer subspace, weapons and tools when Chrome got around to finish making Dusty a new arm and leg. He was hesitant to ask Chrome for another set of servo but almost as if sensing his nervousness, Chrome was right beside him to help. The next was the pressure grid. It was a bit more difficulty but with a little help from his mentor he got the complex circuitry wired in. The last and most difficult was the pain relays. Screw up on that and the patient would either be completely numb or in extreme pain. Again, Ratchet hesitated, his servos still inside Dusty.

"What?" Chrome asked, in a similar position.

"I can't. Not pain relays." Ratchet said, the anxiety coming back full force. He had failed the first test at the Academy and even though he had studied hard for the retake and aced it, he was still nervous.

"Understandable. The two most annoying things to work on are wings, whether they be doorwings or seeker wings, and re-wiring pain relays. You did good. Now, pay attention. I will only show you once." Chrome said before turning his attention back to Dusty. Again, the procedure was simple enough, but it was very stressful for the young apprentice.

"And that is how you put a mech back together." Chrome said as once again Ratchet took over to do the final bit of work. "Was that so bad?" He asked.

"No, it was actually a bit enjoyable." Ratchet confessed, still focused on Dusty.

"Good. It should be. If a mech doesn't love his job then why the Pit is he doing it." Chrome growled as he started gathering up the energon covered tools they had used and walking into the shop to clean them.

"When will he come out of stasis?" Ratchet asked as he pulled back. He was actually impressed with the job he had done.

"Whenever I pull him out. I usually do it as soon as medically possible so that I can hurry up and get everyone out of my fragging medbay." Chrome answered, as Ratchet walked over.

"So about a cycle then? Just so that his systems can finish syncing with his new side?" Ratchet asked.

"And so that his systems don't crash from the lack of energon. That drip needs to be gone before I pull Dusty out." Chrome clarified, filling a sink with soapy cleaning solution. "So yeah, about a cycle."

"Do you need anything else done?" Ratchet ask, watching as Chrome started scrubbing at the tools.

"No, don't think so. The only other conscious mechs here are Battleship, Scavenger and Jigsaw. But they have missing legs so they can't walk out of here." Chrome said, pausing and glancing out the door frame at the medbay. "Go home and get some recharge. You still look horrible from yester-cycle." Chrome said with a smirk when Ratchet snorted.

"You should have seen the look on my roommates faceplates when I got home looking like slag. That was funny." Ratchet said as he turned to leave. A stray thought, one that he had been meaning to ask Chrome but had forgotten in the mayhem of yester-cycle, suddenly came to the front of his processor.

"Hey Chrome?" Ratchet asked, turning back into the shop for a klick.

"Yeah kid?" Chrome answered as he rinsed a set of pliers off.

"Can I ask you a strange question?"

Chrome smirked.

"What do you want kid?" He asked.

"Do you know a mech named Drillbit?" Ratchet asked, watching Chrome.

XXxxXX

"Do you know a mech named Drillbit?"

"_Chrome!"_

"_Let him go you fraggers!"_

"_Pit-spawn!"_

Chrome's servos went numb and he dropped the pliers back into the cleaning solution. He spat a curse as it splashed solution over the counters and him.

"No…No I haven't heard of him. Why?" He asked, turning to face the young medic. He was watching Chrome with concern in his optics.

"Just…wondering." Ratchet trailed off as he turned and walked away. As soon as he was gone Chrome shuttered his optics, leaning on the counter heavily as his legs threatened to give way. A million thoughts raced through his processor, the memories replaying themselves before his shuttered optics. He had wiped that name from his processor vorns ago.

_Dark green mech with a smile_

He thought he had. But that fragging apprentice had to open his mouth!

_A smile turned to a cry of pain._

How the fragging Pit did he know about Drillbit?!

_A cry for help kicked back by a single sentence._

No...He swore he would never forget him.

_We don't want your kind!_

With an almost ferial snarl from his engines he swiped his arm over the counter, throwing everything to the floor in a loud crash.

_Energon covered servos, and five lifeless frames._

"Primus Chrome! What the Pit was that?!" Axil yelled but Chrome ignored him. Fraggin pit spawn apprentice! If he knew the truth! Chrome froze. If Ratchet knew… he couldn't even finish the thought as a single energon tear slid down his faceplates and he slid to the floor, his back to the counter as he pulled his legs up against his chassis. His helm dropped to his knee joints as he wept silently. No…Ratchet must never know the truth.

* * *

**And more of Chrome's dark past. Fraggin liar. **

**Brownies to anyone who can tell me who Drillbit is! Yes he is important and no you do not get to find out who he is for a long time. But he's important!**

**ahh...right!**

**There will be a bit of a time jump coming up and I will warn yo once again, you will see a lot of time jumps because I want to get to the 'good' part where Ratchet is actually a part of the Autobot cause.**

**DONT PANIC YET! It will still be a long time before the War starts don't forget at this point in everyone's lives, Megatron is 9 and not quite ready to take over the planet. **

**Ha. Funny picture. 9-year old Megatron taking over the universe. *snicker***

**Anywhoo!**

**See you all in a week or if I'm not busy I will try and post again on Thursday. **

**Till then!**

**2211Nigthawk**


	5. Chapter 5 Friends

**Hi again! So I'm either late or early depending on how you look at it. But early is always better then late when it comes to due dates so we're going with early posting!**

**Guest: don't worry, Drillbit is my character. Good news, you are close.**

**KeepingThemAtBay: Thanks :)**

**Stormin' Hudson: Sorry for not responding :( don't worry, you'll get to find out all about Chrome's past...but not for a while!**

**Quacked Lurker: Glad you like it so far.**

**2211Nighthawk does not own transformers only my OCs**

* * *

Chrome was lying. Ratchet knew it the instant he had dropped the pliers and then had the nerve to say that he didn't know Drillbit. He glanced back at the medbay when he heard a crash but stayed where he was. The medbay remained quiet and so Ratchet transformed, driving back to the apartment.

"Bout time you show up." Focus said from his spot at the table when Ratchet opened the door.

"Excuse me? I have stuff I need to do? You know. It's called a job." Ratchet said sarcastically as he lightly wacked the pale green medic over the helm.

"Eh eh! Watch the paint!" He yelped, ducking the blow and glaring at the yellow mech.

"Since when do you care about your paint?" Ratchet asked with a smirk, helping himself to an energon cube on the counter. He took a sip and grimaced.

"Oh, you poisoned it again." Ratchet said with a scowl, staring at the offending liquid.

"Did not! And that was mine!" Focus yelled, snatching the cube from Ratchet and taking a gulp. "It's called flavoring. Nova made more of it and I like it. Go get your own cube."

Ratchet rolled his optics with a smirk, going and getting a normal tasting cube from the cabinets under the counter.

"So why are you so nervous about your paint?" Ratchet asked, leaning against the counter with amusement as Focus tried to repaint a plate on the back of his arm.

"Because Quicklight and Nova got a mentor and they want to have some fun." Focus said, still working on his paint.

"Fun? The last time we had fun ended up with us having to take a tram back to the apartment because you were too wired to walk straight." Ratchet said with a snort. "And that's not even mentioning the state Quicklight was in."

"Yeah well. We just graduated. I have an excuse for that. And the processor ach I still have is kindly reminding me to never have that much high grade at once again." Focus muttered. He brighten almost instantly again.

"You'd better fix your paint as well or Nova will have a fit." Focus said, flashing Ratchet a devious smirk.

"Nova? Why would Nova care?" Ratchet asked clueless as he finished the energon and tossed the empty cube in the trash.

"I told her about your half-glitched idea with that whole cave in mess at that mine." Focus said with the same smirk as he turned back to his paint.

"And?" Ratchet asked.

"She's mad." Focus said, now ignoring Ratchet.

"Why was she mad?" Ratchet asked.

"Reasons." Focus said. Ratchet stared at his friend for a few nano-klicks more before shaking his helm and walking to his berth room to touch up his own paint.

"See, see? Told you she'd be mad." Focus muttered as said pink and silver striped femme stormed over. They had agreed to meet their friends at the entrance to the market in the spark of Cybertron. It was just getting late and the planet's twin moons were just starting to show.

"I don't see-" Ratchet statement was cut off. Hard. He stared at the femme that had just slapped him.

"You fragging glitch!" She yelled, glaring up at him with furious green optics.

"Excuse me?!" Ratchet sputtered while Focus and Quicklight laughed.

"What is wrong with your slagging pit-spawn glitching processor for you to go into a mine cave in?!" She demanded.

"I-"

"Don't even give me that slag Ratchet!" Nova snarled, crossing her arms over her chassis. Ratchet just stared at her in shock.

"That was the most glitch helmed idea you have ever come up with." She hissed. "Even more stupid then some of the ideas Focus has had."

"Hey!"

"Don't ever scare me like that again." She ordered, still glaring at the taller yellow mech before her.

"I'll try not to but if Chrome needs me too then I will." Ratchet said, still trying to figure Nova out.

"Good. That's all I need." She said before she spun on her heel and walked away. Ratchet stared after her.  
"What the Pit was that all about?" He asked, only to have Quicklight start cackling again as he followed after his sister.

"Word of advice." Focus said, throwing his arm around his friend's shoulder guard. "Don't ever try and figure out a femme. Your processor will explode."

"That's not possible and you know it." Ratchet said, staring down at his friend in confusion.

"Let me put it this way." Focus said, leading Ratchet after the other two medics. "Has anyone ever figured out a femme?"

"No?" Ratchet said, ending it more like a question then a statement.

"Then how do you know your processor won't explode?" Focus asked before smirking at Ratchet and running to catch up to Nova and Quicklight. Ratchet hesitated. Sadly, Focus was right. Nobody would ever understand femmes. He glanced up at a yell just in time to see Nova wack Focus in the in the back of the helm. Quicklight then yanked the pale green medic off to his right, nearly causing the medic to stumble as Quicklight put himself between his sister and Focus. Ratchet shook his helm with a smirk, picking up his pace to catch up. It was probably a good thing that nobody understood femmes.

"…and the look on his faceplates when Ratchet took off!" Focus was saying with a laugh. "I thought that Jackknife was going to glitch!"  
"He sure was sparking good enough for that." Quicklight continued as he elbowed Ratchet.

"That was not true!" Ratchet protested, a smile still in place on his faceplates as he shoved Quicklight. "I only rearranged the boxes. Focus, the utterly genius, was the one to switch all the labels. It was his fault Jackknife almost glitched."

"Oh how was I supposed to know he was so stiff about his system? He just needed a good laugh." Focus said, trying and failing to look innocent.

"Really? What about when you and Quicklight challenged Speedstrip to a race?" Nova challenged, nudging the pale green medic.

"Hey! That was an accident!" Focus protested, glaring at a now howling Quicklight.

"That was so funny! Nova was right, a red Speedstrip defiantly looks good in pink paint." Quicklight said just before Focus swung out at him.

"Enough already!" Ratchet said with a laugh, dragging Focus back onto his left side while Nova shoved between him and Quicklight. "We don't need to be kicked out of the market. Again!" He glared at Focus as the medic suddenly fond interest in his peds.

"That really was an accident." He muttered. Ratchet nudged him to get him to look up.

"And I'm sure those mechs were oh so grateful for you taking the time to rebuild them a new booth." Ratchet said with a straight face. At the snort from Quickligth he lost it, his faceplates spitting into a grin even as Focus smacked his shoulder guard. He jumped back from his friend with a laugh, only to bump into Nova.

"Hey Quicklight, I want to show you something!" Focus suddenly called out and Ratchet glanced at him suspiciously.  
"What?" Quicklight asked, glaring at Focus. He suddenly smirked.

"Right. We'll see you two in a bit." Quicklight said as he grabbed Focus by the arm, the silver and navy blue mech dragging the pale green mech away. Ratchet stared after them.  
"What was that all about?" He asked turning to Nova. She shrugged.

"No idea." She said as she took the lead, easily waving though the market traffic. Ratchet, still clueless about his friends' reactions, followed after the silver and pink femme.

"So Chrome is mentoring you." Nova said and Ratchet instantly stiffened, his armor flaring slightly in annoyance.

"Yes and if you have issues with that I'll ask that you keep them to yourself." He said, a little harsher then he wanted too. Nova turned to face him, setting the glass figurine she was looking at back down on the booth.  
"I don't have issues with that Ratchet." She said, her green optics flashing. "I think it's great. It's what you always wanted isn't it?" She asked as she and Ratchet kept walking. They hadn't seen any signs of Focus or Quicklight in at least a joor.  
"Yes. Ever since I came to Iacon." He said, still slightly guarded. Nova glanced at him.

"Relax already, I'm not trying to offend you." She snapped. Ratchet ex-vented with a sigh, his armor flattening against his frame.

"Sorry, it's just, Focus was less than impressed when I told him." Ratchet said with a sigh.

"It is dangerous Ratchet. When Focus said that you had gone into a mine collapse, I flipped. He said that you looked ok but…" She trailed off, glancing down at the ground. "I really like you Ratchet and I don't want you to get offlined because of your job." She said finally, glancing up at Ratchet again. "A medic is not supposed to be in danger."  
"Chrome told me today, if a mech doesn't love his job then why the Pit is he doing it? And I believe every word of that." Ratchet said, glancing down at Nova. She was so much smaller than him, not even coming up to his shoulder guard. "I may have only been with Chrome for two cycles but I love my job. Helping the miners is exactly want I want to do."

"I know but still. Promise me you'll be careful?" Nova asked. Ratchet nodded.  
"I'll be as careful as I can." He said with a smile.

"Good. Because I would hate to have to explain to Focus that you'd offlined." She said with a laugh. Ratchet snorted in agreement.

"And the mech thinks I'm jumpy. Primus he needs to calm down before he hurts himself." He said, shaking his helm at the thought of his crazy roommate. The two continued though the market enjoying the sights when Nova put a servo on Ratchet's arm.

"That's him." She said, pointing to a big, two tone blue mech deep in conversation with another bright green mech. The red medical insignia stood out clearly against the dark blue of the two tone mech's shoulder guard. As soon as Ratchet saw him he was on guard. For some reason he didn't like the mech. "His designations Driveshaft. He's the one that is mentoring me and Quicklight." Nova said as she walked over. Ratchet followed behind her as they approached the two mechs.

"…always said they were a waste of time." The blue mech was saying before he noticed Nova.

"Nova! Pleasure to see you again so soon." He said as the green mech turned and walked away excusing himself.

"It is sir. But in truth I didn't expect to see you again until tomorrow." She said with a kind smile. Driveshaft glanced over at Ratchet.  
"You must be Ratchet. I've heard about your reputation." He said, his pale blue optics taking in the young medic before him.

"Reputation? What reputation?" Ratchet asked glancing at Nova with a glare. She shrugged.

"What can I say, you're good." She said simply.

"They say that you were the best in your class. I have my servos full with Nova and her brother but the rest of my staff could use another apprentice." Driveshaft offered.

"Thank you for the offer sir but I already have a mentor." Ratchet said, still on guard but not showing it.

"Already? That was fast." Driveshaft replied in surprise.

"Yeah, Focus, his roommate said that Ratchet was already out the door the next orn and came back with a mentor." Nova said, earning a chuckle from Driveshaft. The blue mech again turned his attention to Ratchet and the young medic just managed to avoid wincing. He didn't like how the older medic… studied him.

"Ambitious. I like that in an apprentice. You sure I can't offer you the mentorship?" Driveshaft asked.

"No sir, I've already started with my mentor. I would like to stay there for a while before I try somewhere else." Ratchet answered calmly.

"What's the mech's designation so that I can congratulate him on a fine apprentice?"

"His designations Chrome." Nova said, still with her smile. Even if she missed it, Ratchet saw Driveshaft's faceplates darken for a moment.

"Chrome. He's the medic on the outskirts of Iacon." Driveshaft stated.

"Yes. He treats the miners. They need one and I am honored to apprentice under him." Ratchet said, feeling his armor flare in anger.

"Yes. The miners. Or course." Driveshaft said, his engine rumbling slightly. Nova heard it and glanced over at Ratchet concerned.

"**What?"** She asked over a private comm.

"**Nothing."** Ratchet said sharply, still watching Driveshaft.

"You know, if you ever want a real mentor let me know." He said and Ratchet could have sworn he heard a threat hidden in Driveshaft's voice. Before he could respond the two tone blue medic turned to Nova.

"It was a pleasure seeing you Nova. I will see you again next orn at the hospital." He said before he turned and walked away. Nova glanced over at Ratchet to see him clenching his servos.

"You ok?" She asked quietly, resting a servo on his arm. Ratchet jerked his arm free before turning back into the market. Nova kept pace with him, her optics questioning.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen." She continued. Ratchet released a stalled vent with a sigh.

"It's my fault. I acted like an aft." He said, forcing himself to relax for Nova's sake. Driveshaft had really gotten under his armor.

"No. I knew he wasn't…a fan… of the miners. He treats a lot of the royals in Iacon."

"You don't like him." Ratchet stated, glancing over at Nova.

"I didn't say that! It's just that…I don't know. He's a great medic. Don't get me wrong! But…I don't know." She said in a rush, glancing shyly at the ground. "I just didn't think that he would be so annoyed like that when he found out who you apprenticed to."

"It's not your fault." Ratchet assured her. "I think there is something deeper going on though. He seemed to know Chrome."

Nova snorted.

"All the medics in Iacon know Chrome."

"No, I mean…more personal in a way." Ratchet said with a shrug.

"What do you mean?" Nova asked, confused.

"Driveshaft seemed to like me until he found out about who I was apprenticing for." Ratchet said.

"It might also be coincident. No offence intended, but a lot of mechs hate the miners and folk who associate with them. That might be Driveshaft's issue." Nova suggested.

"It might. It's none of my business anyways." Ratchet said. The two continued through the market when they heard a yell. Both wiped around to see Focus running thought the crowd, Quicklight on his aft, toward them. The two mechs skidded to a stop before Ratchet and Nova, their vents heaving.

"Hide me!" Focus panted, grabbing Ratchet and ducking behind his larger friend.

"What did you do now you glitch!" Nova demanded as her brother tried and failed to hide behind his smaller sister.

"I didn't do anything!" Quicklight objected.

"Liar!" Focus hissed before there was a loud crash.

"What did you fraggers do!" Ratchet demanded as there was another loud crash. Two black and white Enforcers walked out between a gap in the booths, glancing around. The taller of the two glanced over at Ratchet and his friends, his gold optics lathing onto Ratchet's before dropping to the navy blue and silver medic behind Nova. He elbowed his partner before pointing at Ratchet.

"You're found." Ratchet said as he glanced over his shoulder at Focus. The medic glanced at Quicklight as the two Enforcers started toward them.

"Run!" Quicklight yelled as he suddenly turned tailpipe and bolted, Focus on his aft. The two Enforcers ran after them as Nova and Ratchet stepped aside.

"**I'm not bailing you out again!"** Nova growled opening the comm link that the four medics had opened.

"**Fine by me! We won't get caught!" **Quicklight said before the comm was cut off in a hiss of static.

"For Primus sake Driveshaft must be a little off if he agreed to mentor Quicklight." Ratchet said, glancing at Nova with a smirk. She rolled her optics before starting off in the opposite direction the two Enforcers took.

"You don't want to see?" Ratchet asked.

"No. Are you kidding me?" Nova said with a laugh as she walked away. Ratchet looked back in the direction that the Enforcers had taken before laughing and following after the femme.

Ratchet was back at the apartment on the couch, energon cube in servo as he read a datapad. He had turned the lights off, his optics dimmed as he scanned the datapad. A few moments later the door slid open and a dark form slipped inside. Ratchet watched calmly as Focus slid the door shut, quietly walking across the floor.

"You're home late." Ratchet said as he activated the lights. Focus froze as he was caught in the light.

"Ahh…"

"Did you get caught?" Ratchet asked, setting the data pad aside.  
"No. Quicklight ditched them in an alley." Focus said, still not moving. Ratchet shook his helm with a smirk.

"You know you are never going to get a mentor if you keep this up?" He asked. Focus sighed, finally relaxing.

"What would I ever do without you reminding me to stay out of trouble?" Focus asked with a smirk.

"In the stockade." Ratchet said, unable to remain mad at his friend for long. He got up and cuffed Focus over the helm with a quiet laugh. "You'd be rusting in the stockades. That's where you'd be."

"Don't I know it." Focus said as he walked to his berthroom with a chuckle.

"Chrome commed me again. I'm going back tomorrow morning." Ratchet said. Focus waved him off as he returned to his own room. Ratchet shook his helm once more at his roommate before also retiring for the night.

* * *

**So next chapter we get to meet more characters! Yeah!**

**I have no idea how I'm gonna write that. Oie. **

**Hopefully the next chapter will be longer, I just didn't know where to end this with out a complete change of scenery**

**That's half the fun though. So wish me luck! **


	6. Chapter 6 Royals

**Hi all! Chapter 6 coming up! Yes I just finished writing this so pardon grammar issues and spelling problems. heh heh. I failed spelling in school. **

**2211Nighthawk does not own transformers or anything but my OCs.**

**Kay so we got some really important characters coming up and i'm really sorry if they (you'll know who...) seem OOC or something. But don't forget, this is before the war so they may seem OOC for a reason. Give me till the war officially kicks in and then yell at me if I'm still screwing them up. **

**Oh yeah! So Chrome is not used to having an apprentice around and personally, has no idea what to do with him. So Chrome is as new to this whole thing as Ratchet is. just wanted to point that out. **

**Hee hee, so nobody seems to like Driveshaft. *Snicker* I like him. The aft that he is. Ooh, I have his whole life's story planed out. But I cant tell you anything yet. **

**Swiftpaw2012: Glad you like the story so far and I hope you enjoy them.**

**Komanah24: Yes I know he is. But you'll see why in about forty chapters from now give or take. *shurgs*I actually don't think it will be that long but who knows. **

**KeepingThemAtBay: Thanks! Trust me he should. Like I said above, his character will be explained a bit more later on. I got a whole lot of slag that needs to happen first. **

* * *

"I will need that, that, that…and make sure you get that crate as well." Chrome ordered, balancing a datapad and three crates that he set in front of the door.

"I already got the first three crates but I can't find the forth." Ratchet replied, double checking the datapad that Chrome tossed to him.

"It's under the counter. Hard to miss, it's full of paint." Chrome said. "Fraggin royals." He muttered under his breath. "All they care about is their slagging paint."

"Found it!" Ratchet yelled, pulling the crate out from under the sink. It was full of different shades of paint.

"I would leave it here but the royals would glitch. Fraggin…" Chrome's muttering trailed off and Ratchet had to smirk. He grabbed the crate and walked to the entrance where Chrome was going over the datapad again. He sighed, muttering under his breath again. "Sterling will be here in a few klicks. He said he was just going to get himself cleared up."

"I think that's everything then." Ratchet said as he set the crate down with the others.

"I don't envy you at all." Dusty said as he walked over. Turns out, again, Chrome had skipped recharging to work on parts again. So far, only Graphite and Dusty were left, Chrome had kicked the rest out after making sure they could all walk. Graphite because he was still having issues with his side and Dusty because he Chrome wanted to keep an optic on him. Even if he did have his leg reattached. The door burst open and Sterling skidded in. He was instantly met with a wrench that Chrome had subspaced and thrown at him.  
"You're late!" He yelled, glaring at the silver miner.

"Ah said Ah was sorry!" He yelped, rubbing his helm.

"We needed to be in Iacon over a joor ago!" Chrome growled as he stormed outside. Just outside the doors he transformed into his pickup truck like alt.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Teh nobles can wait fo' all Ah care." Sterling grumbled as he grabbed one of the bigger crates and set it in Chrome's alt.  
"What are you waiting for kid?" Chrome asked and Ratchet quickly grabbed a crate, also loading it onto Chrome. In a few klicks he was loaded and Ratchet transformed beside him.

"Let me know if Dusty makes a break for it again." Chrome said as he started off. Ratchet fell in behind him and the two medics headed toward Iacon. Heading toward the center of Iacon, Chrome led Ratchet down a side street, though it was still fairly busy. He stopped in front of a dark building and Chrome data burst Ratchet a set of numbers.  
"That's the access code for the door. Open it and open the back door for me." Chrome said as he drove around back. Ratchet transformed, typing in the code and walking in. The lights turned on automatically and Ratchet walked through the small medbay to the back door. He unlocked it to see Chrome sitting there.

"Just set the supplies on the ground and I'll show you where to put everything." Chrome said as Ratchet started moving crates. After a few klicks Chrome transformed and grabbed a crate. Ratchet grabbed a second and followed him in.

"That can go on the counter." Chrome called over his shoulder guard as he set the crate he was carrying down. Ratchet carefully set the crate down before heading back outside to get another crate. A loud curse rang thought the air and Ratchet ran back inside.

"What!" He demanded as Chrome cursed again.

"I forgot the Prime was coming today." He growled. It took Ratchet a moment to realise what Chrome had just said.

"Prime?! As in _the_ Prime?!" Ratchet sputtered. Chrome nodded.

"Yes. Sentinel Prime. And his heirs. I forgot Orion is due for his third youngling frame. Fraggit." He muttered before walking into a back room Ratchet had missed. After a few moments, Chrome walked back out, a huge crate in his arms.

"The Prime already had this made, but he wanted me to do the transfer. Orion won't let anyone else touch him." Chrome explained, setting the crate down on a medical berth. He pried the lid off, gesturing Ratchet closer. The young medic walked over. Inside was a cobalt blue frame. Red accents highlighted the wrists and ankle plating while more red accented the silver faceplates. The entire frame had a dull sheen to it but that was just because it was an empty frame. The entire frame came up just past Ratchet's waist.

"This is for Orion Pax?" Ratchet asked.

"Yep. He'll be big by the time he gets to his adult frame. Probably the same size as Sterling." Chrome said, closing the crate again and moving it off to the side.

"When is the Prime coming?"

"Sometime today. He had said that there was a bunch of political slag he had to deal with first. Not that those were his words." Chrome said with a shrug, walking back outside. The two quickly finished moving their supplies inside and started organizing it for easy accesses.

"That's the last of it." Ratchet said as he moved the empty crate to the back storage room. By no means was this medbay large, in fact it was half the size of Chrome's other one by the mines.

"Good. I just got a comm that the Prime will be coming here in about a joor. Good grief I can't stand the mech." Chrome grumbled from his temporary office where he was finishing up the last klick details on the medical reports from the mine collapse.

"Why not?" Ratchet asked, leaning against the office door frame. Chrome sighed before spinning around to face his apprentice.

"I never have liked nobles. You could say I've had…less than pleasant experiences with them before. Like I told you, they hate the miners and they hate me. Sentinel Prime no longer hates me as but…" He trailed off with a smirk. "It's actually kinda funny. Orion got separated from Sentinel when they were in Iacon. Somehow the youngling ended up walking in here. I didn't know who he was at the moment and I told him to go back to his creator. I knew he was a royal and I was busy."

Again, Chrome smirked.

"That mechling looked at me and said that he was lost and wanted to stay here until his creator could find him. I wasn't really thrill about the thought, younglings tend to touch things, but I said if he stayed on a berth he could stay. And that mechling did just that. He stayed right where I told him to stay and asked about a million questions. Course, I still was on duty and a couple of mechs came in with some decent damage. I patched them up, that youngling watching the entire time. Sentinel burst in suddenly with his body guards and I nearly glitched when I realised who was sitting in my medbay. Orion Pax, the youngest heir of Sentinel Prime."

He shook his helm.

"Sentinel was livid as you can guess but Orion told him to leave me alone, that we were friends. I nearly glitched again at that point. Royals hated me and to have the sire of the Prime say we were friends? That nearly sent me over the edge. Sentinel later told me that Orion had a fear of medbays and medics. Ever since he was a sparkling he hated them. Problem was, it was coming close to upgrade him into his second youngling frame. And would you know it, he said he wanted me to do the upgrade. He's come here for his checkups ever since. Sentinel is even starting to kinda tolerate me."

"Wow. So you're best friends with the Prime's heir. That's pretty good for a miner medic." Ratchet said with a smirk when Chrome glared at him.

"Yeah. No pressure at all." He growled, rolling his optics as he spun back around to his desk.

"Who do the medical reports go to?" Ratchet asked, curious.  
"To the mine formech. Problem is, the fragger is a royal and doesn't give a slag about the miners. In fact, he won't even be in Iacon until a couple cycles from now. I think Carbon said he was on holidays in Praxus or something like that. But Unicron's mine should have been shut down metacycles ago. It is far too dangerous, too unstable. But…then the miners would be out of a job and the royals would lose the huge amount of energon being hauled out of that death trap." Chrome replied, his engine rumbling in annoyance.

"You don't like him." Ratchet stated.

"I don't like any of the royals. They're all pain-in-the-afts. Orion I can at least handle." Chrome said with a sigh, turning back to Ratchet. For some reason Chrome looked sad, like he was hiding something. Ratchet instantly thought about Drillbit. Chrome knew him, he just wasn't saying how and it was disturbing him. But like Dusty said, he'd been though a lot. Maybe that was why he wasn't talking about what that designation meant to him. But Ratchet didn't dare ask again. He knew the hard way that Chrome had a short temper.

"Sentinel…He isn't too bad." Chrome continued, before stiffening and tapping the side of his helm. Ratchet respectfully stepped out of the office. A moment later, Chrome ran back into the main room.

"Sentinel will be here early. He's a few klicks away." Chrome said as he lifted the crate with the empty frame back onto a berth. "Help me with this."

The two carefully lifted the frame out of the crate, setting it on a second berth before Ratchet moved the empty crate to the back storage room. He walked back out to see Chrome stiffened before whipping around to the door. At that moment they slid open and a tall, regal looking mech walked in. He was bright red with fine white stenciling over his heavy armor. Long panels fell from his broad shoulder guards, giving him the appearance of having a cape. His faceplates were mostly silver, and he had a very serious air about him. His burning blue optics locked on to Ratchet first before sliding to Chrome. Instantly Ratchet's vents stalled. He was staring at _the_ Sentinel Prime. Ruler of Iacon. He felt a sharp elbow in his side and his gaze jerked to Chrome who was glaring at him.

"**Quit starring!"** He barked over the comm before turning his gaze back to the Prime. **"And follow my lead."**

"Sir, it is an honor as always." Chrome said, sinking to his knee guard before the Prime. Instantly Ratchet copied him, also dropping to his knee guard in a bow.

"Get up, I know I lose all rank in this place." Sentinel said in a deep, powerful voice. As he straightened, Ratchet caught sight of the two younglings standing beside the Prime. The first was standing as tall his frame would allow him. He was silver grey in color, also with broad shoulder. Ratchet knew that would also be big when he got to his adult frame. The youngling glared at him, his optics a shocking red.

"What are you staring at scum?" The youngling snapped and Ratchet instantly averted his gaze.

"Megatronus, enough. You know better." Sentinel warned, glancing down at his eldest creation. The youngling scowled, glaring at Ratchet again before turning and stomping back outside.

"I hate this place." The youngling growled as he slammed the door. Ratchet winced at the noise as the Prime spoke again.  
"I apologize for his behavior." Sentinel said. "Again." He muttered.

"You have no need to apologize. You're the Prime." Chrome said, almost, respectfully.

"But this is your medbay. You are the law here." The Prime said with a smirk. Ratchet's vents would have stalled again if they were not already. The Prime had a sense of humor?!

"Hi Chrome, it's good to see you again." The second youngling said in a voice to powerful for his small, blue frame as he took a step forward.

"It's good to see you again Orion. Are you excited?" Chrome asked, taking on a much softer side then Ratchet had ever seen before as he dropped into a crouch so he didn't tower over the mechling.

"Yes. I can't wait to get my new frame." Orion Pax said with a grin, his cobalt blue optics lighting up. But then he saw Ratchet and took a hesitant step back towards his mech creator. Chrome's reminder about Orion's fear of medics came back to him and he shifted his weight back, but didn't take an actual step back. Chrome didn't miss a thing though as he remained on optic level with the Prime's heir.

"Orion, this is my apprentice Ratchet." Chrome said gently. The youngling took a hesitant step forward, watching Ratchet.

"I though you said apprentices were useless." Orion said, turning back to Chrome. The medic's vents chocked as Ratchet glanced at his mentor in surprise and amusement. The Prime also looked shocked that his creation's outspoken words.

"Orion Pax!" He cried in shock and embarrassment. The youngling flinched even as Chrome remembered to release the vent he had missed.

"No, he's right Prime. I ah…" he glanced up at Ratchet almost sheepishly. "I did say that and I guess he overheard me."

"**And I meant every word of it as well."** Chrome added over the comm, his normal annoyed tone back in place. In answered, Ratchet just smirked, glancing back down at Chrome before returning his gaze to the suddenly very shy youngling. He crouched down, balancing on his servo as he lock optics with the youngling.

"Chrome already told me that you don't like medics." He said gently. Orion nodded, still behind Sentinel Prime's leg. "I won't touch you unless you want me to." He stood up, taking a step back.

"Is it ok if he watches at least?" Chrome asked and Orion nodded again. Chrome stood then with a smirk. "Then let's get you upgraded."

Orion grinned, stepping out from behind Sentinel and following Chrome to the berth with the empty frame on it. Sentinel followed them, looking the frame over before nodding.

"It looks good. What do you think Orion?" He asked, lifting the youngling to see his new frame. Orion grinned.

"I love it. That's really what I'm gonna look like?" He asked.

"Yep. That's what you wanted." Sentinel said with a smirk, setting Orion back on the ground.

"Let me know when he's awake again." Sentinel said as he turned and walked back toward the doors. He walked out of Ratchet's sight but he felt the Prime's burning gaze.

"**Isn't Sentinel going to watch?" **Ratchet asked, trying not to squirm under the Prime's glare.

"**No, he trusts me. You…he's not so sure about. But there's enough Gaurds outside that we wouldn't get out the door if the Prime sicked them on us." **Chrome said as he pulled the curtain closed behind Ratchet. The thin material cut off the Prime's glare and Ratchet relaxed instantly. Chrome saw it.

"**He does that to a lot of mechs. He doesn't mean it though."** He said, turning his attention back to Orion as he jumped onto a berth.

"Is it the same as last time?" The youngling asked.

"Yes it is. Just take a deep breath and you'll online in your new frame." Chrome said as Ratchet saw him subspace a needle from behind his back. Orion nodded before shuttering his optics tightly. Chrome gently took his arm, before inserting the needle in an energon line. The Prime's heir winced at the feeling but as Chrome withdrew the needle, he relaxed before going completely limp.

"Well, let's get going. The sooner he comes online the sooner I can get the Prime out of here and we can relax." Chrome breathed, barely above a whisper. "You're taking the lead again. The first thing you need to do-" Chrome said in a normal tone but Ratchet cut him off.

"I can't sir." He said, not looking at his mentor.

"What, never done this before?" Chrome asked.

"No I haven't, but that's not the reason." Ratchet explained.  
"Oh?" Chrome asked, shifting his weight slightly.

"I told Orion that I wouldn't touch him without his permission. And I keep my word." Ratchet said, mentally adding that it was the fragging Prime's heir! To his surprise Chrome smirked.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say. You always respect a patient's word. Only if it is a matter of life and death do you ever break a patients requests." Chrome said respectfully. Ratchet finally glanced up at him to see, pride?, in his optics. "You're learning. That's a good thing." Chrome said, his usual working manner back in place. "You may have said that you wouldn't touch Orion but you can still prep his next frame."

"I can do that." Ratchet said as he walked over to the berth and started running systems checks on it. Like he had done to Dusty's side, he made sure everything was in place and working properly. After a few klicks, Chrome joined him in prepping the empty frame. Again, Chrome made Ratchet take the lead, which he did very hesitantly. But once the energon pump was hooked up and energon started to flow thought the empty frame, Ratchet began to relax. Slowly, the cobalt paint regained its shine as the red glistened to a scarlet color.

"Almost done." Chrome breathed to himself as he turned back to Orion. The youngling was in a very deep medical stasis. Ratchet stood back respectfully but watched closely. He had only seen a frame transfer twice and he was fascinated by the procedure. Chrome manually opened Orion's chest plates, exposing the youngling's spark chamber. Carefully Chrome injected a drug into Orion's spark chamber and the steady pulsing slowed till it was barley pulsing at all and slowing the spark. Ratchet knew that it was so that it made the transfer easier and safer to the youngling. With Ratchet hovering, Chrome started disconnecting energon lines and sensory wires.

"You ready?" Chrome asked, glancing up at Ratchet. The apprentice quickly stepped out of the way as Chrome gently wrapped his servos around the youngling's spark chamber. Carefully, he lifted the spark chamber free from the now too small frame. Spinning in place, he set the spark chamber into the larger frame and started hooking it up, Ratchet once again hovering to watch. After a few klicks, Chrome broke the silence.

"You can tell Sentinel that everything went great and he'll be online in a little while." He said, his gaze unwavering from working on Orion.

"Yessir." Ratchet replied as he walked around the curtain and through the waiting room. He opened the door, shocked to see at least a dozen heavily armed mechs just in the front of the building. He had no doubt that more Guards were surrounding the back. Scanning the black and white mechs, he finally found Sentinel Prime. He was caught in a glaring match with his eldest creation Megatronus. Not wanting to interrupt the obvious argument between the two, he waited until Megatronus turned his back on Sentinel with a snarl, arms crossed over his silver grey chassis. Sentinel sighed, looking worn out before he noticed Ratchet. Instantly the hard, regal mask fell back into place and Sentinel frosted him with a look.

"Everything went well?" Sentinel asked.

"Yes sir. Chrome said that he'll come online in a few klicks." Ratchet replied, keeping his optics on a neutral point on the Prime's chassis.

"**Ratchet, he's coming online a little early."** Chrome's voice came across the comm link.

"He's coming online now." Ratchet relayed the message. Instantly the Prime's optics brightened.

"May I see him?" He asked. Ratchet nodded, allowing the Prime to re-enter the medbay first. The curtain had been pulled back and Chrome was standing at the head of the berth, watching the monitors hooked up to the youngling. Sentinel walked over, resting his servos on the edge of the berth even as Ratchet stood by his mentor's side. Orion's optics flicked suddenly as they came online and the youngling groaned.

"How are you feeling Orion?" Sentinel asked, his faceplates softening as he looked down at his creation. The youngling smirked.

"Weird." He replied, his powerful voice fitting the larger frame better than his old one. "Like I've been stretched. And then squashed into a really small box." The youngling said, lifting a servo to rub his faceplates. He paused when he saw it, turning his servo to look at it curiously.

"Cool."

Came his simple statement and Ratchet couldn't help the smirk that crossed his faceplates.

"You ready to try walking?" Chrome asked. Orion nodded, sitting up slowly. Sentinel rested his servo on the youngling's shoulder guard, helping him keep his balance as he slid off the berth on his creator's side. He pushed himself to his peds, wobbling slightly at his new size. Cautiously he took a few steps, testing out his new size. He suddenly spun to face Chrome, a huge grin on his silver faceplates.

"Thanks Chrome!" He said. His gaze snapped over to Ratchet and he gave the apprentice a shy smile.

"Thank you Ratchet."

"Any time Orion." He replied, returning the youngling's smile. Sentinel stepped forward then, approaching Chrome. He subspaced a couple of coins, handing them over to Chrome.

"I believe that should cover the cost." Sentinel said before he grinned down at his creation.

"Shall we get going then, leave Chrome to his work?" He asked Orion. The youngling nodded, taking Sentinel's servo again.

"Good orn Chrome. I will see you again at Orion's next checkup." The Prime said before he turned and walked away. Ratchet watched them leave then turned to see Chrome grinning like a mad mech.

"What?" Ratchet asked, slightly concerned about the mech's crazy mood swings. Chrome handed the credits over to Ratchet. He quickly counted them, then recounted them. He stared up at Chrome in shock, handing the coins back over.

"Seriously?!" He demanded.

"That is the only reason I even look at the royals." Chrome said as he subspaced the coins.

"There's almost 4000 credits there!" Ratchet gasped.

"That's enough to cover the medbay costs and even give us some spending cash." Chrome said.

"What does it normally cost to do a frame upgrade?" Ratchet asked.

"Most of the cost goes toward manufacturing the new frame. Whatever the frame cost is, I charge a quarter of that." Chrome replied with a shrug.

"But that frame wasn't 16,000 credits." Ratchet said. "Maybe, 10,000 at most."

"I know. Sentinel pays well." Chrome said with a smirk.

Over the next couple of joors, over a dozen mechs and femmes had come in for various reason. Like Chrome's fear, most of it was cosmetic. All in all, it was a very good day. The two medics were just starting to clean up when the door burst open with a crash. Chrome jumped nearly as high as Ratchet this time as they both expected the worst.

"Ratchet! Where the frag are you!" A far too familiar voice bellowed. Ratchet groaned, slamming his servo to his faceplates in embarrassment. Chrome glared at him.

"Focus, I'm going to kill you!" Ratchet growled as he walked into the waiting room. The pale green medic had an annoyingly big grin on his faceplates even as his furious friend stalked over to him, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back outside.

"Focus what is your fragging problem!" Ratchet hissed. "I'm on duty!"

"I got a mentor! Driveshaft? Nova and Quicklight's mentor? He knew of a medic across Iacon that needed an apprentice. I start tomorrow!" Focus said, still unfazed by his angry friend.

"Focus! How could you just barge in like that?!" Ratchet demanded. "I'm working!"

"Yeah! And do you know how long it took me to find this place? Half the mechs I talked too hated Chrome's designation and the other half hated me!" Focus said, his faceplates dropping. But they brightened again in his usual manner. "Her designations Moonstar and she's tall and slim and beautiful and-" Focus' optics started to go unfocused dreamily as he thought about the femme.

"Focus! What are you doing here." Ratchet groaned.

"I wanted to tell you I got a mentor." Focus said, his faceplates dropping again. Ratchet sighed, running his faceplates with both servos.

"I'm sorry Focus. It's just that…" Ratchet trailed off.

"No, you're right. I should have-" Focus started to say before the door slid open and Chrome walked out, looking less than impressed.

"Problem?" Chrome asked, crossing his arms over his rust scarred chassis, frosting Focus with a glare. The pale green medic stared at the much taller mech before him.

"No. This is my roommate Focus. He just wanted to let me know that he got mentor." Ratchet explained. **"I am so sorry, I didn't know that he was going to show up."** He sputtered over the comm. Chrome ignored him, turning his attention to the pale green apprentice medic before him.

"You got a mentor? What's their designation?" Chrome asked, the same intimidating look about him that Ratchet had first met. It did the same thing to Focus; intimidate him.

"Uh… her designations Moonstar. Our friends' mentor suggested her." Focus said, more respectfully then Ratchet had ever seen his joker friend be.

"I know Moonstar. She's a good medic. Young, but she know what she's doing." Chrome said, nodding in approval. He turned his attention back to Ratchet.

"Whenever you're done." He said before he turned back into the medbay. Focus stared back at Ratchet in shock.

"That's Chrome?!" He hissed, keeping his voice down.

"Yes. Why." Ratchet growled.

"Ok, ok. Just…wow. You actually want to work with him?" Focus asked.

"Yes. Why." Ratchet repeated.

"Dunno. He just seems very…" Focus trialed off.

"Intimidating?" Ratchet supplied. Focus nodded. "He is." Ratchet said with a sigh. "But he's also a good mentor. I'm honored that he took me on. And I hope you have luck with your mentor as well but I got to get back to work."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Sorry…I just wanted to tell you faceplate to faceplate." Focus said with a shrug. Ratchet smirked.

"I'll see you when I get home." Ratchet said as he turned back to the medbay.

"Yeah, see ya Ratchet!" Focus called as he transformed and drove off. Ratchet walked into the medbay, freezing when he saw Chrome standing there, arms crossed.

"Oh frag. You heard all that didn't you?" Ratchet asked. Chrome nodded and Ratchet winced.

"Most of it. At least the part where your friend doesn't seem to like me." Chrome said, his engine rumbling slightly.

"Don't blame him. Please. He's…he doesn't mean any harm he just tends to overreact a little. He ah…he wasn't thrilled when I said that you agreed to mentor me." Ratchet said, no longer able to hold Chrome's green optics and ended up dropping his gaze to the suddenly interesting ground.

"I also heard that I'm a good mentor and that you're honored that I took you on." Chrome continued. Ratchet nodded, bringing his gaze back up to Chrome.

"And I am. I didn't expect you to take me on and Orion Pax kinda confirmed that fear." Ratchet said, allowing a smirk to cross his faceplates. Chrome shook his helm with a snort.

"Like I said, I meant every word. Apprentices tend to get in the way and hover too much."

Ratchet winced again, recalling his hovering when they did the frame upgrade.

"But you're no apprentice."

Ratchet couldn't stop the look of shock on his faceplates as his gaze snapped to Chrome's. He still had the smirk on his faceplates.

"You're a medic that just needs the experience."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Ratchet asked, following after Chrome as the medic turned to the storage room to continued packing up their tools.

"No." Chrome said simply.

"How are they not?" Ratchet asked, completely lost.

"Because I can't stand apprentices. You I'm starting to tolerate." Chrome said with a grin before turning his back on Ratchet. Ratchet stood there slack jawed for another nano-klick. Tolerate? That's a good sign isn't it? Dusty said he was testing him, so tolerate is a step forward. He thought. He shook his helm sharply and grabbed a crate.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Chrome said as he set the last crate down by the back door.

"What. I can run in to get it." Ratchet said, already moving toward the medbay.

"No, no, no. I have it here." He said, walking over to Ratchet and subspacing a couple coins. He handed the credit over to Ratchet, who stared at them like they might bite him.

"That's your cut from the day. Like I said before, I don't get a lot from the miners, I refuse it, but the royals I have no problems sucking dry." Chrome said with a smirk.

"But there's just over 1000 credits here." Ratchet said, counting the credits again.

"I know. The Prime put in a fair amount. I told you he pays well. Don't expect that much in the future." Chrome warned.

"Pit no, this I more than I ever expected." Ratchet said, looking almost horrified that Chrome would even think that he expected more.

"Well, it should last you for a few cycles anyways. At least until we go into Iacon again." Chrome replied, transforming to his pickup truck like alt. Ratchet started loading him up after subspacing the credits and within half a joor they were back on the road.

"**There is no reason for you to follow me back to the medbay. Sterling is still there and he can help me unpack. The mech needs something better to do with his time then just waste it. I'll see you tomorrow, same time." **Chrome said over the comm.

"**I'll be there. I'll see you then."** Ratchet responded as he took the next left toward the apartment.

* * *

**So what do you think! sentinel is going to be a pain in the aft to write because all I know of him is from Dark of the Moon. But he couldn't have really been all that bad...**

**MAJOR NOTE TO ALL MY FANS!**

**Because I want to take this through the entire war right up to the first movie (cross your fingers I do...) I really need help with the whole time line deal. I think Praxus was destroyed as a warning to neutrals to choose a side but I don't know if that was in the first half of the war, the middle or the last half as a shock effect to the Autobots. The youth sectors was Megatron's first real blow to the Autobots in the start of the war. The last battle happened at Tyger Pax where they launched the Allsaprk into space but much more then that I don't know. I would also love it if you could give me some city-state names. I know Praxus, Straxis, Iacon, Kaon, Vos, I think Tyger Pax is a city or is it a place. Not sure but please help me out! YOU HOLD THE FATE OF THE UNIVERS IN YOUR KEYBORDS!**

**no pressure but please send me all the War info you have. I might end up making up a lot of stuff so that it works with my story line but I want to keep it as close to the common knowledge deal as possible.**

**Thanks all! 2211Nighthawk. **


	7. Chapter 7 Change

**Howdy do!**

**So here we get to find out a little about what Driveshaft's deal is. I introduce another character who is a total aft just because he. Got to love those kind of characters. ****Oh, just to clarify. When I talk about 'Royals' I don't necessarily mean royalty. I just mean anybody higher up on the food chain from Chrome and the miners. This is very much a caste? system where there are very district levels of actually royalty (Sentinel Prime) high class (Driveshaft and my soon to be introduced mech) middle class (approximately where Ratchet and Focus are. Nova and Quicklight are a but higher up) and the poor. And then the miners at the bottom of the food chain. **

**KeepingThemAtBay: Thanks for the suggestion. I googled it and actually came up with some handy ideas. We'll have to see where it goes. *shurgs* I know just a little more then you reader do but not by much. **

**Komanah24: If Megatronus was human (Primus forbid), he would be the annoying guy in the back of class wearing all black, a skull on his shirt with really big earphone on and completely ignoring the teacher. Total completely rebel. (No offence to anyone who is like that.) Like I (think) said in the chapter before. This is pre-war FF so not everyone is a mean war torn jerk. But evil does start out little. Yes Driveshaft does have a reason for being like that. **

**Stormin' Hudson: Good to hear from you again :D Yeah, Chrome is a lot like that. In truth, he's had a hard life and Ratchet is kinda softening him up a little. Chrome is nothing but a big softy at spark. **

**There is a time jump but not an overly huge one. I just need to keep the story moving. Again, because I have no idea how the hole time/age thing works, I'm going with earth style. (7 orns in a cycle, 4 cycles in a groon, 12 groons in a metacycle ect ect. )**

**Nanoklick-second**

**Klick-minute**

**Joor-hour**

**Orn-day**

**Cycle-week**

**Groon-month**

**Metacycle-year**

* * *

Ratchet slowly sank into the chair Chrome slid over to him. His optics were unfocused as his processor completely stalled out. Chrome gently rested his servo on the stunned apprentice. He knew exactly what Ratchet was going though. He had known the painful feeling far too often. But Ratchet didn't even acknowledge the comforting gesture. There had been a mining accident and three mechs had been seriously injured. All three had offlined, including Ratchet's patient. Graphite had saved his life when he first went up to the mines almost an entire groon and a half ago. Ratchet had patched him up when he had gotten the shrapnel in his side. After he was fit for work again he had been transferred to a different mine. But then the call came it.

"How could he offline? What did I do wrong?" Ratchet breathed, staring at the energon still coating his servos. He had tried. He had tried everything.

"You did all you could. Sometimes it just isn't enough." Chrome said, knowing exactly what it felt like.

"But…I…He…" Ratchet couldn't even finish, he was still in shock. Chrome vented softly.

"Your first lost?" Chrome asked. Ratchet didn't answer, but continued to stare unfocused at his servos. Chrome took that as a yes.

"I'd say that it happens. That you need to learn to get over it fast so that you can focus on those still online." Chrome said. "But at the same time…you can't get used to it. If you do… you lose a part of yourself. The part that wants to save lives and the reason to be a medic."

"I know but…" Ratchet whispered, clenching his servos tight. The dried energon started to flake off. "What if I could have done more? What if-?"

"You did all you could Ratchet." Chrome interrupted gently.

"Do they all feel like this?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes. Every death feels personal. It never gets easier." Chrome explained. "You just have to learn to keep going."

Ratchet nodded, clenching and unclenching his servos.  
"Take the rest of the orn off. You need it." Chrome said, gently pulling Ratchet to his peds.

"Kay." Ratchet said quietly as he started toward the door. Chrome watched his as he left before opening a private comm.

"**Dusty, are you on your off shift?"** He asked.

"**Yeah, why? I was just headed into Iacon for a drink with the rest of the gang."** Dusty replied.

"**That mining accident at D-4? We lost them. Ratchet was in charge of Graphite." ** Chrome explained.

"**Primus, he was one of mine. He was a good miner, what happened?" **Dusty asked.

"**One of the main support beans in an energon cavern collapsed and dropped a beam on Graphite, Shader and Sawblade. Sawblade was killed instantly but Shader and Graphite were pulled out alive. But we couldn't save them." **Chrome answered. He didn't know the others personally but he and Graphite had been good friends. All of Dusty's gang were his friends.

"**He's taking it hard?"** Dusty asked.

"**It's his first lost. Can you make sure he gets home in one piece? I need to stay here and wait for Copper."**

"**Fraggin glitch is coming? Oie. That's rough. But yeah. Yeah, no problem. The least I can do is make sure the kid gets home."**

"**Thanks, Dusty. It means a lot." ** Chrome said before he cut the link and watching as Ratchet drove away.

"You sure you're going to be alright?" Dusty asked as he and Ratchet rode the lift to Ratchet's apartment.

"Yeah. I'll be ok." Ratchet said with a forced grin.

"You sure?" Dusty asked, still suspicious as the lift doors slid open.

"Yes Dusty, I'm-" Ratchet started to say before he came faceplate to faceplate with Nova. "-Nova. What are you doing here?" Ratchet asked.

"I wanted to talk to you. You weren't home though so I was just leaving." Nova replied, also surprised to see Ratchet.

"A friend?" Dusty asked, eyeing the very pretty silver and pink femme. Ratchet elbowed the mech, glaring at him.  
"Yes. She's a very good friend of mine and a medical apprentice." Ratchet said, frosting the miner with a look. He turned back to Nova. "Nova, this is Dusty. He's the miner I told you about."

Nova grinned, crossing her arms over her chassis, also looking the mech over.

"So you're the one he put back together." She said. Dusty nodded, straitening slightly under her inspection.

"Yes miss. I owe him my life." Dusty said.

"Please. It's just Nova. I don't like sounding that formal."

Ratchet didn't miss the way that Nova looked at Dusty and grinned.

"**She wants to give you a quick scan so she can see the repairs herself. Nova's just too polite to ask." **Ratchet told Dusty over a private comm. The miner snorted out loud.

"If you want to do a scan to see for yourself what the kid did, then feel free." Dusty said with a smirk at Nova's confusion.

"Really? I mean…you don't mind?" Nova asked, her normally eagerness back in place.

"I'm not shy." He said with a smirk, straightening again as Nova raised her arm, the pale blue scanner activating in her bracer. She circled him once and poked him a couple times before her curiosity was satisfied.

"He replaced you're entire right side. Your faceplates, optic, entire arm and shoulder joint. Half your chassis…pelvic joint…leg…everything. That's pretty impressive." Nova said, optics wide in shock. Dusty shrugged.

"When you do the work I do you get used to the risks." Dusty said, turning back to Ratchet.

"I didn't do all of it. Chrome did most of it." Ratchet said, glancing over at Dusty.

"I have to get back to the mine. Are you positive you'll be ok?" Dusty asked again. Ratchet sighed, the pain of losing a patient still aching at his spark.

"I told you…I'll be ok." He said, sounding less then convinced at his own words. Nova glanced between the two mechs, concern in her green optics.

"What? What happened?" She asked. In a nano-klick her optics had hardened. "Ratchet, I told you to be careful! You promised!" She growled, jabbing a digit at his chassis. Dusty took a step back.  
"No, it was nothing like that. The injured were already out by the time Chrome and Ratchet showed up." Dusty said, his attitude taking on a more somber manner.

"Then what happened…oh. Oh Primus, you lost one." Nova said quietly, her gaze softening again. Ratchet nodded sharply.

"All three of them didn't make it." Dusty relied.

"You're first?" Nova asked.

"Yes. A support beam had fallen. It landed on the three mechs and crushed them. Two were still online when they were dragged out. Chrome took one while I took the other but… His chassis had been crushed and I wasn't-" His vocal processor chocked out with a quiet hiss of static.  
"And you brought him home?" Nova asked, turning back to Dusty.

"Yes. Chrome told me to make sure he made it safely." The miner said, glancing over at the yellow mech beside him.  
"Well I'm not on shift this orn. I can keep an optic on him." Nova said.

"That's all we need. Ratchet's one of us and a loss hurts everyone." Dusty said before he turned back to the lift.

"Oh Dusty?" Nova called after him as the door slid open.  
"Yes?" Dusty asked.

"Thank Chrome for me will ya? It means a lot that he made sure Ratchet made it home safe." Nova said, giving the dusty red mech a gently smile. The miner returned it before entering the lift and the door slid shut.

"Let's go. You're not going back to your apartment." Nova said, placing a servo on Ratchet's arm.  
"And why not?" He asked with a sigh, glancing down at Nova.

"Because you need to get your mind off of it." She said simply. "I haven't lost a patient yet, I'm thankful for that but I know you need something to do."  
"Not now Nova." Ratchet said, trying again to walk past her.

"Too bad. You and I going to go to a café, I will buy you a flavored energon and we will talk about what stupid things Focus will do to try and get his mentor's attention." Nova said, her grip tightening as she pulled Ratchet back toward the lifts. Knowing it was useless to argue, even though he was a fair bit bigger than her, Ratchet followed her back down to street level and followed her into Iacon. Nova took the lead and drove to a small dinner off of the main highway. The two apprentices transformed and walked in, Ratchet following Nova to a quiet corner booth. A petite femme took their orders and they were quiet as they took their first few sips.

"I got it!" Nova said, slamming her cube down and pointing a digit at Ratchet. He froze, his cube hallway to his mouth.  
"What?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"Focus. My guess is that he's going to cut his own servo off just so that she will put the temp plating on." She said.

Ratchet snorted, setting his cube back down with a smirk.

"I don't think he'll be that desperate." He said. But at the look Nova gave him he grimaced. "But I have been wrong before."

"Are you kidding me? Don't you remember what he did for what's-her-faceplate? Ah…" Nova snapped her digits a couple times, staring off into space.

"Galaxy?" Ratchet supplied.

"Yes! That 's her!" Nova said, her optics snapping back to Ratchet. "He nearly got himself expelled."

"Right. Now I remember." Ratchet said with a chuckle. "He was chasing femmes before we met and he's still chasing them now. I'm surprised that he doesn't flirt with you."

Nova snorted.

"That's a joke! Quicklight threatened to beat the slag out of him if he tried to hit on me." Nova said with a grin.

Ratchet lost track of how long they had been talking. Nova was right. It was a good thing to get out of the apartment for a while and let his friend distract him from the loss of a friend and patient.

"And now we've got mentors. I mean, if someone had told me when I was youngling that I would have grown up to become a medic in Iacon? I would have laughed at them." Nova said.

"In few short cycles we've come so far." Ratchet said with a grin.  
"We have. I mean, I'm learning so much. The Academy was wonderful, best metacycles of my life, but working with Driveshaft? It's just so much more." Nova replied.

"Same with Chrome. Did Focus tell you I met the Prime?" Ratchet asked. At the wide optic look that Nova gave him he took that as a no. "The youngest, Orion Pax, was in need of a frame upgrade. Apparently he won't let anyone but Chrome touch him. That was…intense." Ratchet said, shaking his helm.

"The Prime? As in Sentinel Prime, ruler of Iacon?!" Nova hissed, remembering to keep her voice down in the café.

"Yes. Talk about pressure. Wow. If I never have to have him watching me again that will be too soon." Ratchet replied with a smirk. "I never would have expected to work on the Prime's son this soon out of the Academy. Obviously I can't tell you the details, but that was intense. Chrome's entre teaching style is intense."

"What do you mean?" Nova asked, her half-finished energon forgotten.

"Chrome is very much hands on. Well you saw what Dusty looks like. He made me take the lead on repairing his side and that was what? Two days out of the Academy? We weren't even aloud to touch a laser scalpel until we had memorised the entire fragggin textbook. And even then!" Ratchet said.

"Yeah and you had no problems with that. You were always Jackknife's favorite." Nova said with a quiet laugh.  
"Yeah. Until Focus and I messed up his filing system. I though he was going to dismantle Focus." Ratchet added.

"Jackknife wasn't the only professor that wanted to do that. I can think of at least four other professors that wanted to dismantle Focus or Quicklight." Nova continued.  
"But most wanted to dismantle them both." Ratchet said with a smirk. "I miss those orns. Goofing around the halls, annoying the professors. Saving the two class idiots from Jackknife."

"They've changed a lot since then." Nova said, also remembering the orns at the Academy. Ratchet snorted.

"Focus sure as Pit hasn't changed. You know I almost had to go and bail him out of the stockades? Again?"

"Ok ok. You got a point." Nova said with a smirk. "Quickligth has changed since then." Nova said, suddenly very sober. "He's changing a lot." She added with a sigh, staring down at her energon cube.

"That can be good thing. He, we all, are growing up. Even you have to admit that I've changed since I started working for Chrome." Ratchet said, watching his friend closely.

"Yeah. I guess you have changed for the better." She said with a smirk. But then she got serious again.

"But not Quicklight. He's getting… I don't know. More serious. He doesn't want to have fun anymore and he is spending far too much time with Driveshaft."

"Is that a bad thing? He wants to learn. He always has. He was just as good as I was at the Medical Academy." Ratchet replied.

"It's more than that. It's no secret that Driveshaft hates the miners. He keeps mentioning it at the hospital. And what worries me is that Quicklight is starting to listen to him."

"What?"

"He did defend the miners…for a while anyways. But now he just keeps quiet." Nova continued, shaking her helm sadly. "I don't know."

"What about you?" Ratchet asked, aware of the serious topic.

"I'm fine. I don't let Driveshaft's words affect me." She said with a sigh. "Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions."

"What conclusions?"

"He mentioned Chrome the other orn. But he said the designation with so much hatred…I think you were right when you said there was something going on between the two." Nova said, dropping her volume a little and leaning in closer to Ratchet. "Driveshaft asked Quicklight if there was any chance of getting you to change your mind about Chrome as your mentor."  
"And what did he say?" Ratchet asked.

"Course he said there was no chance. He knows you're stubborn." Nova said, giving Ratchet a 'duh!' look. "But then he mention Drillbit."

"Who did?"

"Quicklight. He said that he was the reason you became a medic. Driveshaft… he seemed spooked. But Quicklight dropped it and Driveshaft didn't bring it up again. But a few orns later, I had to go back because I forgot some of my tools there. And Driveshaft was cursing Chrome. Saying that he would pay for what he did to Alloy." Nova said quietly.

"Well who's Alloy?" Ratchet asked.

"This is where things get weird. Alloy was Driveshaft's mentor. He was murdered."

"What?!" Ratchet hissed. "Is he accusing Chrome of murder?! But that's impossible! Chrome's a medic! His programming wouldn't allow him to harm another!"

"That's what I though! But at the same time, Driveshaft was completely wired. And I did a little digging. You know," Nova shrugged innocently, "because I can. Alloy was killed by a miner. They found the murder weapon, but never the miner that did it."

"And they know it was miner?" Ratchet asked.

"I couldn't find anything else. The few mechs I talked too didn't know or wouldn't tell me." Nova said, relaxing against the back of her bench.  
"So it wasn't Chrome." Ratchet stated.

"Couldn't be. Like you said, Chrome's a medic, even if everyone hates to admit it. And he couldn't hurt anyone let alone terminate someone." Nova said.  
"If it's true, that explains why Drivesahft hates the miners." Ratchet said with a shrug. "I guess he just takes it out on Chrome because he cares about them and he's a friend of them. That's probably why he doesn't like me. Because I'm Chrome's apprentice."

"Wait a klick, if he's friends with the miners, he might know who killed Alloy. If it was a miner that did it." Nova said quietly, leaning in again.

"Could that be how Drillbit is involved?" Ratchet asked. "Like I said, Chrome flipped when I asked him if he knew Drillbit."

"Maybe. But it's obvious that someone isn't telling the whole truth." Nova said with a sigh. "This suddenly got very complicated and confusing."

"But the mech that I saw said that Drillbit was dying." Ratchet said. "What color was Alloy?"

"Orange and black. Why?"

"Because the medic I saw throw the miner out was orange and black. That could have been Alloy."

"But you said that the miner was refused help." Nova said.

"He was. The medic threw him out. That was when he said that Drillbit was dying. The medic still refused to help him and he left. Drillbit couldn't have killed Alloy. Could he have?"

"If that miner didnt get help for Drillbit, that miner might have gone for revenge. Maybe that's what's going on. The miner killed Alloy because he refused to help his friend Drillbit." Nova suggested.

"And…I think… I think I saw a blue mech by the window of the hospital. That might have been Driveshaft." Ratchet said quietly.

"So he saw his mentor throw the miner out?" Nova stated.  
"If that really was Driveshaft." Ratchet interrupted.

"So that's how he knows Drillbit." Nova said.

"I don't know. Like you said, things just got complicated." Ratchet said with a shrug.

"So Driveshaft hates Chrome because Chrome knows the miner that terminated Driveshaft's mentor and won't betray one of his friends." Nova summed up.  
"That's a lot of ifs but it's possible. It explains why Driveshaft hates Chrome and Chrome claimed to not know Drillbit." Ratchet confirmed.

"Something is going on around here and I don't like it." Nova said, her armor flaring slightly.

"And I don't dare ask Chrome about this. That mech has one Pit of a grip." Ratchet said, remembering far too clearly how Chrome had thrown him up against the wall.

"Just…be careful. And I don't mean the mines. Focus said that he was dangerous and you confirmed that when you said that Chrome threw you against a wall." Nova said, her armor starting to flatten back out.

"You too. I think both our mentors are involved with something. I just don't know what." Ratchet said, his optics taking on a haunted look.

xxXXxx

Chrome was just finishing up the medical reports when he sensed the hated ID signature. He couldn't stop the growl that escaped his engine at the mech's horrible timing. He stood and went to his office door, watching as the brown and gold colored mech walked in, his faceplates in a permanent smirk.

"You got a lot of nerve showing up right now Copper." Chrome growled at the mining formech.

"I come when I come." The mech said, his high class accent thick in his tone. "The reports done?"

"Course they're done. In fact I just finished filling out the last three." Chrome spat.

"Tut tut Chrome. You normally have all the reports done already." The mech said, that sinister smirk still in place.

"We got three more casualties this morning. They didn't make it." Chrome said, the loss hurting him too.

"Well at least there is still some good to that." Copper said, slowly scanning the medbay and making sure not to look at a furious Chrome.

"What are you talking about? I would gladly go out of business if it meant the miners weren't getting hurt or killed in those mines." Chrome said turning his back on the mech and stalking into his office.

"Well, three less miners to put up with." Copper said casually. Chrome nearly went back out and clocked the mech. But this mech was dangerous. Frag Copper off and he could make the miner's lives even more dangerous than they already are. For the moment he settled with images of ripping the formech's helm off.

"Still working this slagging excuse for a medbay, huh." Copper asked from outside. Chrome bit back a snarl, instead, choosing to grip the edge of his desk hard enough for the metal to warp. He vented hard, then stood, grabbing the reports and walking out to face the hated mech.

"I do my job. Maybe you should start doing yours." Chrome snarled, slapping the datapads into the mech's servo harder than need be. "Like making the mines safer. They need better equipment and you know it!"

Copper took the datapads, scanning thought the first few.

"I'm a busy mech. What can I say?" He said.

"They need that equipment Copper! Graphite and the others would still be online if that beam hadn't cracked under the weight!" Chrome snarled.

"And that's my fault-?"

"Yes! Because over half of their equipment it faulty! Or in this case not even designed to hold that amount of weight!" Chrome yelled.

"So now you're a miner again? I didn't think you were done playing medic." Copper asked, smirking at Chrome.

"They need me more here than in the ground! And if you would just do your job and get them the fragging equipment I could go back to the fragging mines!" Chrome snarled.

"I heard you got an apprentice." Copper said calmly, completely changing the subject. It caught Chrome off guard.

"What's it to you." He snarled, his engine growling dangerously as he faced the mech. If that mech said one thing wrong he would-

"What did you have to do to get him? Bribe someone? Or maybe you threatened someone?" Copper asked, still scanning the reports.

Mentally, Chrome was slowly dismantling the mech piece by piece. In reality he was glaring daggers at the mech.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now if you have everything you need get your fragging aft of out my medbay." Chrome ordered dangerously. Copper ignored him.

"So does this apprentice of yours know about you?" He asked, knowing he was treading a very thing line.

"I said it's none of your concern. Now get the Pit out!" Chrome demanded, pointing to the sliding doors. Knowing that Chrome's short amount of patience was running dangerously low, the mining formech turned his back on Chrome and walked away.

"You know that that apprentice is going to find out. What you did? Everyone knows you did it and it's only a matter of time until it catches up to you." Copper said over his shoulder guard as he walked out. Chrome's vents stalled at the remark. The fragger had a point. By no. Ratchet was too far into this. The royals that know won't speak to him and the miners are already sworn to secrecy. Sterling made sure of that. No. For now, his past was safe.

* * *

**Yes a little shorter then last chapter but it needed to end here. FYI, that last part with Chrome is happening at the same time as Ratchet's and Nova's chat. **

**I really really really hope I didn't give to overly much away. There will be a chapter on why Ratchet became a medic, that is important, and what the heck is with Chrome's past.**

**Copper is an aft because I can make him one and he's fun to write. Think of him as the really annoying stereotypical pain in the aft boss from the movies that holds your very job and or life in the balance. Feel free to send me hate mail about him.**

**please let me know if I'm speeding up to much again, but I didn't know what to use for a groon and a half of filler. Depending on reviews might change when I post next because if you think I am going a little to fast then I will need to figure out another whole chapter or two to write before I post a good part. **

**Oh yeah! Should I keep this as one big story or break it up? I don't know, what do you guys want?**

**See you all next time!**

**2211Nighthawk. **


	8. Chapter 8 Losses

**DONT HIT ME! SORRY SORRY SORRY! (did I mention sorry?) I know u haven't posted in eons but I hit a major writers block and I rewrote ch8 like five times and I'm still not happy with it and I went to visit family over Christmas and I've been busy and I've been tearing my hair out by the roots and (*gasps loudly for air*) I've been beating my head against the laptop lid and I'm really really really sorry and please don't hate me too much and I'm rambling because I feel lousy for not updating and I'm still not totally happy with this chapter and its the middle of the night and I'm tired and positive there are still spelling/grammar problems and I'm just going to post this anyways and say screw writers block.**

***pant pant pant* that feels better**

**OK!**

**SusantheRedhead: Yes there is slight pairing...*wink wink nudge nudge* but its not polite to pry into people's love lives ;)**

**Komanah24: Like is said via PM, he's gonna get what he deserves.**

**KeepingThemAtBay: Thanks for the advice, I'm always open to it. **

**Stormin' Hudson: I cant explain to much cause I don't want to give it away. It will all be explained latter on I just don't want to blow Chrome's dark little secret(s) out of the water just yet. It will all be explained in due time.**

**And on to chapter 8**

* * *

Chrome looked up from a box when Ratchet walked into the medbay the next orn.

"So how are you doing kid?" He asked. He knew that Ratchet had taken Graphite's death personally.

"A lot better. Nova and I went out afterwards for some energon." Ratchet replied. At the smirk Chrome shot at him he realised what he said.

"No! Not on like a date or anything, just to talk. To get my processor off…" Ratchet trailed off miserably.

"Isn't that what you do on a date? Talk?" Chrome asked with a grin at Ratchet's slightly horrified look. He forgot how amusing young love was.

"It wasn't- I mean- I-" He sputtered.

"Teh kid 'ad ah date?" Sterling asked, leaning against the wall corner as he watched Ratchet shift uncomfortably.

"She's just a friend." Ratchet muttered.

"Right. Just friends." Sterling confirmed, still grinning as he turned to Chrome.

"So the kid 'ah ah good tahm. 'Ow 'bout ya?" He asked. In answer, he got a wrench thrown at him. He ducked but it just barely missed his helm.

"Wha'd Ah say?!" He protested, whipping around to see the decent sized dent in the wall.

"Even think about mentioning that aft and I will leave a dent in your helm!" Chrome threatened, subspacing another wrench and shaking it at him.

"Who?" Ratchet asked cautiously, ready to duck if the wrench came his way. So far it had only once.

"Remember in Iacon how I mentioned the mining formech was an aft?" Chrome growled.

"Yes?" Ratchet asked.

"Copper's the formech. He was here yester-cycle after you left." Chrome continued, glaring at Sterling.

"Ah just asked ah question!" He protested, then beat a hasty retreat out the door, Chrome throwing the wrench after the retreating miner. It clanged harmlessly off of the doorpost and Sterling stuck his helm back in.

"Ha! Missed meh!" He yelled before he ran.

Ratchet glanced back at Chrome with wide optics.

"That bad huh?" He asked. Chrome glared at him before venting and his entire frame sagged as he leaned on the table, his back to Ratchet once again.

"That mech is…" He trailed off. "He doesn't give a slag about the miners and we all know that he is stealing from them. He's given a cut of the mine earnings to buy the right equipment and supplies but he doesn't. He's a cheapskate and a liar."

"How do you know?" Ratchet asked respectfully.  
"Because there were never these kinds of accidents before he was formech. Never. Sure everyone still hated the miners but at least it was safer then what it is now. With…with Graphite and the other two, this makes just under 40 terminated this metacycle alone. That's not counting the injured." Chrome said with a sigh, suddenly looking very old and very tired as he turned back to Ratchet.

"40?! That many?!" Ratchet gasped, shocked at the number.

"What's worse is that I don't even know about the other mines around Iacon. The miners that aren't found or are never recorded. To Copper, miners are just drones." Chrome spat, hatred filling his words. "Just mindless drones to be replaced when we get terminated or too old to keep working the mines."

"You said we. I thought you were always a medic?" Ratchet interrupted.

"I…I was a miner. For a long time. Sterling was the medic of the mine, if you could call him that. After Copper took over, the accidents started happening. Sterling couldn't handle the casualties so I started training to become a medic."

"You were a miner?" Ratchet asked surprised. "That's how you know the mines so well."

"I was there when the higher ups found the energon vein in the mountain. When they ordered us to start mining. Unicron's mine. Fitting name. There's a seleion pocket not that far away from the energon vein but it's too dangerous to try and pump the seleion out. Copper's too cheap to buy the right equipment and if it's not done right, that explosion that you saw when I first agreed to this? The coming explosion will make that look like nothing."

"Coming? What do you mean coming?" Ratchet asked.

"It's only a matter of time before the whole mountain explodes. And when that does, maybe the miners will finally get the supplies they need." Chrome said sadly.

"That's pretty negative thinking." Ratchet put in, giving Chrome an annoyed look. His mentor shrugged.

"What can I say? What the miners do is a dangerous job." He said, then muttered something under his breath as he continued unpacking. It was only then Ratchet saw the huge stack of crates by the big overhead door.

"Supplies?" Ratchet asked, walking over to the stack.

"Yeah. It came this morning and I just started unpacking. Feel free to make yourself useful." Chrome called, still unpacking.

It was two joors later when they finally got to the last crate.

"Last one." Chrome said with a grunt as he pried the lid off.

"What? Last one? And we were just starting to have fun." Ratchet said sarcastically. His optics were just about cross-eyed from staring at the labels on the jars of medication he had been restocking.

"Eh…all fun must come to an end." Chrome replied, rolling his optics as he moved the crate to a counter to better organize the bulk temp-plating.

"Chrome!" Dusty yelled, bursting into the medbay.

"Fraggit Dusty, if you take the door off its tracks again I'm going to shove a wrench up your-! Chrome started to yell.

"Sandstorm and Jigsaw got attacked." Dusty interrupted.

"What?!" Chrome demanded.  
"Longhaul's bringing them in as we speak." Dusty continued.

"How far out is he?" Chrome asked.  
"Couple klicks. He'll be here any minute." Dusty said even as Chrome whipped around to face Ratchet.

"It's a good thing we just got more temp-plating." Chrome growled as dark green and purple mining dump truck pulled up. Loud swearing was heard even from inside the medbay.

"Get the door!" Chrome barked as he started subspacing temp-plating to have on servo. Ratchet pulled the overhead door open and Longhaul pulled in, the swearing even louder than before.  
"Mute it Sandy!" Chrome ordered, jumping into the back of the dump truck.

"Fraggin' over painted pit spawn of a glitching retro rat!" The tan colored mech snarled when Chrome touched his badly dented shoulder guard.

"Mute it already! Kid, help me get them down, Dusty make yourself useful and get over here!" Chrome snapped, more annoyed at the two glitching miners then at the apprentice and the only kinda sane mech that worked in the mines. After scanning Sandstorm and making sure that he could still be moved, he helped him to his peds before helping him off Longhaul's back.

"What happened?" Chrome asked, directing the statement at Longhaul. "These idiots frag off a royal again?"

"Again?" Ratchet asked, easing Sandstorm onto a medical berth.

"No, the royals attacked first. I saw Sandy and Jigsaw getting beat up on and joined the braw. The royals fled before I could get in any good punches." Longhaul said as Chrome jumped back in and lowered and unconscious Jigsaw to Ratchet and Dusty. Longhaul transformed, the green and purple mech almost the same height as Carbon. Both had nearly identical frame types and laced with old scars.

"Again? They're getting braver." Chrome said, already up to his elbow joints in Jigsaw's spilt energon.

"What do you mean again? Again what?" Ratchet asked, removing Sandstorm's dented shoulder guard to expose the ugly dark purple blue bruising from his armor digging into his protoform.

"Two cycles ago a bunch of royals tried to beat up Ironlock. That was a mistake." Chrome answered with a snort, sealing a cut energon line in Jigsaw from a stab wound. At a sharp, nearly silent, curse from Ratchet he looked up. Only another medic would have seen Ratchet's servos trembling. That stopped him. Even when he been scared sparkless in the mine when he was the only one able to keep Dusty online, Ratchet's servos had still been steady. Chrome had seen it when the miners finally managed to get past the collapse and he saw Ratchet still shielding Dusty from the debris, Sterling a living IV drip. His servos had to be steady if you wanted to become a medic. And a good one at that.  
**"Ratchet?"** Chrome asked over the comm, knowing exactly what his apprentice's problem was.

"**Chrome what if I screw up again? What if I mess up-?"**Ratchet sputtered.

"**Kid, that was not your fault that Graphite didn't make it. He was too badly damaged."** Chrome interrupted, welding a piece of temp plating in place.

"**But-"**

"**Ratchet, it happens! You can't take every loss personally. They will both be fine."** Chrome snapped, cutting him off. He had felt the same thing. Lose one patient and even a simple procedure suddenly seems impossible.

"**But-"**

Before Ratchet could even speak, Chrome had subspaced a wrench, throwing it at his apprentice and clamped off another cut energon line in Jigsaw. He ignored the shocked looks Dusty, Sandstorm and Longhaul gave him, glaring fiercely at his apprentice while his servos still moved.

"What was that for?!" Ratchet demanded out loud, rubbing the side of his helm where a decent sized dent now was.

"**I gave you time to mourn Ratchet but you need to get over it right now. Sandstorm isn't critical but what if he was? I already told you that Orion was right when he said that apprentices were useless. I would have thrown you out on your aft those cycles ago when you walked in here, reeking of that royal's Academy. The only reason I even considered you is because I did need help at the mine and I saw that you could handle yourself under stress."** Chrome snarled, his optics not leaving Ratchet's even though he did keep their argument private. ** "It happens Ratchet! I've lost more mechs then I could ever count. And a lot of them were friends. But you have to get over it so that you can focus on the online!"**

He had finished up on Jigsaw and he now stepped around the medical berth, a step toward Ratchet. To his credit, and Chrome's surprise, he stood his ground, not moving from beside Sandstorm. **"There's a difference between forgetting and getting over it. Never forget Graphite but you have to get over his offling. You did all you could but now you most certainly cannot help him now. But even though he's an aft and probably deserved to get beat up, Sandstorm needs you. Right. Now. Now either prove that you actually have what it takes to be a medic or get your aft out of my medbay."**

Chrome had stepped forward, nearly chassis to chassis with Ratchet as Sandstorm looked ready to bolt, injuries and all. The apprentice had long dropped Chrome's smouldering green glare to the berth Sandstorm was trying to keep from falling off. Chrome hoped that with the way he was balancing on the very edge he would fall. Fragger.

"**Move and I'll weld you to the berth." **Chrome snarled, sending a quick comm to the squirming miner.

"**Yessir."** Sandstorm muttered, but still remained on the very edge of the berth, as far away from the furious medic as he could be without actually falling. It was then that he realised that even Dusty and Longhaul had taken a few steps back, watching Chrome cautiously. Realising that Ratchet was probably going to have a processor breakdown at any moment, he took a step back, dropping his gaze down and to the side.

"You're a good kid Ratchet. But this is a part of the job. If mechs didn't get hurt, there would be no need for us." Chrome said quietly, all the anger leaving his frame. He had too many 'if onlys' himself. If only he and Drillbit had taken a different route home. If only he could have protected him. If only he knew then, what he did now he might have saved him. If only he… He stopped before the thought could even finish forming in his processors. No. He had locked those memories away metacycles ago. He turned to face Longhaul and Dusty.

"If you don't need us then get out." He hissed. In less than a nanao-klick both miners were out the door. With a sigh he walked around to the berth's other side. Instantly Sandstorm scooted over, right smack in the middle of the furious medic and his apprentice.

"You sure I can't go with them? I feel fine." Sandstorm said in an almost whimper.

"**Mute it."** Chrome growled over the comm, keeping his posture neutral for his apprentice's sanity. With skilled digits he started to work on the miner's dented abdominal armor. The gentle strokes of the stylus not only smoothed out the dents in Sandstorm's armor but calmed him as well.

"**Ratchet-" **Chromo started to say.

"**Don't. You're right. I need to snap out of this. Termination happens."** Ratchet interrupted in a short, clipped tone, his optics focused on Sandstorm's bruised shoulder.

"**I didn't…Ratchet, when you told your friend, Focus was it? that you were honored that I took you on…"**Chrome said before trailing off, mentally beating himself over the helm with the same wrench he had thrown at Ratchet.

"**I meant every word."** Came the clipped replay.

"**Do you still? Or do you think this was a mistake?" **Chrome asked. Ratchet's servos froze as his optics jerked up to meet Chrome's.

"**I still mean it. And I don't think this was a mistake. I said I wanted to be your apprentice and a mech I once knew said that you have to take the good with the bad. Dusty already told me…" **Ratchet suddenly trailed off.

"**Dusty you fragging glitch!" **Chrome roared over a separate comm link while at the same time addressing Ratchet in the same tone as before. **"What did he tell you?"**

"**What'd I do?!"**Dusty squawked. If Dusty told Ratchet what he'd done he would dismantle the mech.

"**He said that you'd been though a lot."** Ratchet said, finishing up on Sandstorm's shoulder joint. A nano-klick later Chrome also finished. Sandstorm wasted no time in bolting out the door, limping slightly from the fresh welds on his side.

"Don't you fragging bust those welds!" Chrome bellowed after him before turning back to Ratchet with a sigh. "Before I became a medic…I lost a… a friend. I couldn't do anything to help him and every time a mech comes though my medbay doors and offlines it takes me right back to that night. It's like someone sticks a knife in my spark every time a mech offlines."

Chrome somehow found himself back by Jigsaw. He knew that the mech was stable and he'd online in a few joors, but he couldn't face his apprentice. Not after he just blew up at the mech because of something from the past.

"**What'd I do?!"** Dusty repeated, near frantic on the other end of the comm.

"**Nothing this time."** Chrome said before closing the comm.

"But I had no excuse to yell at you like that. Every medic takes a loss personally and they all handle the grief in a different way. I turn to anger and end up taking it out on another." Chrome continued, his own servos trembling in front of him. What was it about that apprentice that made it so easy to talk to?

"Chrome-" Ratchet started to say quietly.

"No. This was my fault. This life has made me hard. I just…I don't…" Chrome trailed off miserably. If only he could restart the orn. He was finally starting to trust Ratchet and then he pulled a stunt like that. Ratchet didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm used to the pain but it never gets easier. The first is always the hardest." Chrome continued. He felt a servo on his shoulder guard and he glanced away from Ratchet.

"I'm not used to sharing my grief. I have to be strong. If the medic gives up, what chance do the miners have?"

Chrome exvented sharply, turning his helm slight to watch Ratchet out of the corner of his optic. The apprentice was watching him with concerned optics.

"Fraggit it's too easy to talk to you." Chrome spat, earning a quiet chuckle from Ratchet.

"A lot of mech's have said that." Ratchet said with a forced half smile. But Chrome knew he had hurt Ratchet. The dent in his helm would sting for a little before it would pop itself out. But words always stabbed deeper. You can't change what you've said. What he had said.

"I'm sorry Ratchet. I used…used to work the mines with Graphite. It was when Sterling was the gang leader and Dusty was the clown. Still is. Graphite had my back and I had his." Chrome said in a near whisper. He had never been sorry. Maybe a few times but he was known for his bluntness. If a mech was an aft Chrome let them know it and frag them if they didn't like the answer. He didn't let others know the pain and hate he had been through but again he almost lost it in front of Ratchet. The first was when he nearly put him through a wall and now this. Sterling had warned him that if he kept his past hidden it would eventually devoir him. And that fraggin' miner was right. But he couldn't tell Ratchet. Ratchet would hate him and so far he was the only mech outside of his band of brothers that didn't despise the very ground he walked.  
"My creator said that every mech deserves a smack in the helm at one point in their lives." Ratchet said quietly, touching the dent in the side of his helm. "I guess he was right."

Chrome winced.

"Normally I only throw things at the miners." Chrome said, dropping his gaze again.

"Chrome, you don't need to be sorry for anything. You told me at the mine that there is no time to second guess yourself. That I either know what I'm doing or I don't. And I do know what I'm doing. I have the best mentor in Iacon that will show me what to do." Ratchet said, his half smile turning genuine. But all that did was twist Chrome's spark again. The fragging kid not only looked up to him but trusted him. No doubt with his own life. And here he was lying to the mech's faceplates. He felt that old pain spike in his spark. He couldn't do this. Ratchet was digging up too many memories and he didn't even know it. If he started poking around? Found out the truth about Drillbit? He… he would hate him. And then all this would be for nothing. Chrome knew that sooner or later, the mines would claim him. The always did. Once you entered those black holes they became a part of you. Not just the slow seleion poisoning that worked its way into a mech's systems. But the mines themselves. They always claimed the miners in the end. And then what? If he was gone, and it was only a matter of time until the mines caught up to him, what would happen to the other miners? They needed medics that didn't care about the credits or the title. They needed medics that cared about them and were willing to risk their lives to go into those mines to pull the survivors out. They needed the promising apprentice more than Chrome needed his trust. He would tell Ratchet the truth eventually. But for now…now he just needed to keep from losing the apprentice to his past.

xxXXxx

Ratchet could see the tension in his mentor's frame. In truth, he had been doubting himself. Sure, Sandstorm was a simple repair, but what about the next time? If something like what happened to Dusty happened again? He needed to keep his helm. It fraggin' hurt when Chrome had thrown that wrench at him and he had though Sandstorm was going to glitch, but he needed that.

"My creator said that every mech deserves a smack in the helm at one point in their lives." Ratchet said quietly, touching the painful dent in his helm. "I guess he was right."

Chrome winced, dropping his sideways glance back to the medical berth Jigsaw was on.

"Normally I only throw things at the miners." Chrome confessed.

"Chrome, you don't need to be sorry for anything. You told me at the mine that there is no time to second guess yourself. That I either know what I'm doing or I don't. And I do know what I'm doing. I have the best mentor in Iacon that will show me what to do." Ratchet said. And he meant it. Chrome was right. He couldn't doubt himself in this job. Doubting his abilities could mean the difference between a mech going home to his family or going to the Well of Sparks. Nova had said he had changed. And he had. A groon and half ago he wouldn't have been able to even look at Chrome when he had yelled at him. He was getting more confident. He could feel it. He had risked his life to go into a half collapsed mine to save a mech he didn't even know. But he had seen the looks in the miners' optics. They trusted him. Him. A complete stranger and one fresh from the Medical Academy. The miners were prideful. They had to be to keep their spirits up in such a dark and dangerous lifestyle. But they had been desperate enough to trust a stranger, a royal, to help them. Chrome had trusted him to do what he could to help Dusty. Ratchet knew that Chrome wasn't a trusting mech. But he took Ratchet on, to his shock, and other then the little glitch-up where Chrome nearly put him through a wall, they had been doing good. Now was not the time to start doubting his abilities. Graphite had saved his life, and in turn he had saved the miner's. But…it was only a matter of time before he lost a friend. He wouldn't forget Graphite, but he would keep working to save others. He trusted Chrome with his life to keep him safe in the mines. The least he could do was not let him down. Chrome had a past. And from the way he reacted to Graphite's death, Ratchet knew that it had to be dark. But it was his past. Ratchet had his own secrets and for now he would respect Chrome's. When he was ready, Chrome would tell Ratchet and he would stick by his mentor no matter what secrets he had.

* * *

**Hopefully you're all in a slightly better mood now that you're ready my next chapter and no longer want to beat me to death with a wrench.**

**n case you didn't figure that out, somehow the first chunk came out as Chrome' POV, not quite sure how that happened.**

**So just a little about what's going on inside their heads. I know it didn't move anywhere but like I said, huge writers block and I rewrote this chapter five times so bear with me. Hopefully the next one will be better and or longer. Hopefully both.**

**I love reviews and it's what keeps me kinda sorta "sane".**

**Ha, who's sane? That's boring.**

**Catch you all next time, hopefully with in a week. *whimper* I try!**

** I want to say Merry belated Christmas to all and Happy New Year! Good luck to everyone and hope you have a great year!**

**-2211Nighthawk**


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